In 2019, for her second project at Crown Point Press, Alyson Shotz made four etchings in muted tones of green, blue, purple, and gray. This is a departure from her first project at Crown Point, in early 2013, which consisted of a small rainbow-colored portfolio of five origami-like images and four larger works printed in pale pink. Shotz's new etchings focus on tangled bunches of knots, a subject that the artist began investigating in 2003. Knots have a long history in human culture dating back to prehistoric times, serving a variety of purposes from aesthetics to spiritual symbolism. Shotz is interested in the concept of mathematical knots and their representation in a three-dimensional space. After observing tangled balls of wire in her studio, she used 3D modeling software to recreate them.

In an exhibition catalog from 2014 and published by Derek Eller Gallery, Shotz explains how 3D software is an integral part of planning her sculptures. “The ability to solve problems in a virtual space of three dimensions enabled me to conceive and construct things that would not have been possible using only pen and paper,” she wrote. In these new etchings, the knots seem to be alive as lines weave and loop through one another in an endless continuum.