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Nine Daughters of Ran print and mixed media ©2025LisaLeQuelenec |
The first set of Ran's daughters completed, each daughter mounted onto A4 paper with handprinted and painted net that binds them and suggests the presence of their mother Ran.
My intention had been to bind the daughters into a book format, a concertina so that they could be viewed in a linear format as below in this mock up.
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Nine Daughters of Ran print and mixed media ©2025LisaLeQuelenec
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I thought that this would be a good way of displaying the progression from calm to stormy waters, shallows to the deep. To be able to do this I think they need to be on a smaller scale and I should have thought through the practicalities at the beginning as needing to join sheets to make a long enough concertina became clumsy and distracting. If I were to exhibit and present this set I think they might actually work better framed individually so maybe this isn't as much of a set back as I made it in my head.
I intend to do nine editions of the nine images using the same base lino blocks, each with different inking and different hand finishing - same sea but different tides - as each set of nine will be made over a long period of time I expect each to develop in different ways with different outcomes and I am thinking different ways of being presented. The idea of binding in a book isn't completely abandoned just yet and is probably something that I will return to, time will tell.
This first set is one that I will keep, a keystone for how the project will develop which may take some years. I am releasing them as prints on RedBubble individually, in threes and as a print of all nine together in the formats below, they are also available as greeting cards.
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Ran's Daughters Blóðughadda, Himinglæva & Kólga prints available at RedBubble ©2025LisaLeQuelenec |
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Ran's Daughters Hrönn, Bara & Unnor prints available at RedBubble ©2025LisaLeQuelenec |
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Ran's Daughters Dufa, Bylgia & Hefring prints available at RedBubble ©2025LisaLeQuelenec
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Nine Daughters of Ran prints available at RedBubble ©2025LisaLeQuelenec |
As a February side quest for the darkest month this project has grown considerably, I had no idea at the start I would be completing just a first round in May. I am hoping that I will discover more about the mythology surrounding these ladies and also parallels with other myths from around the world their commonality and differences; the sirens, selkies and mermaids come to mind and I am sure there are many others as I cast nets in waters outside of Europe. I am sure that these stories passed along trade routes with a bit from here and a bit from there added and missed along the way but with a core of similarities. Maybe you have suggestions that I could research I would love to hear.