20 18 T He Membership E Dition

28/29

2018

The Membership Edition

Vol. 28/29 The Membership Edition EXECUTIVE BOARD Ashley Pastore MEMBERSHIP CHAIR Susanna Crum PRESIDENT Jessica Caponigro ARCHIVIST David Diaz VICE PRESIDENT Henry Gepfer SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR Andrew Winship VICE PRESIDENT II Kristina Paabus ADVISORY Amanda Maciuba SECRETARY Dylan Welch JOURNAL MANAGING EDITOR Tonja Torgerson TREASURER Sukha Worob JOURNAL MANAGING EDITOR Breanne Trammell MEMBER-AT-LARGE Heather Parrish JOURNAL CO-EDITOR Raphael Cornford MEMBER-AT-LARGE Matthew Hopson-Walker JOURNAL CO-EDITOR Dayon Royster STUDENT MEMBER-AT-LARGE Xavier Moreno ART DIRECTOR/DESIGN LIASON Kacey Slone STUDENT MEMBER-AT-LARGE Susanna Crum PRESIDENT

Susanna Crum conducts research-based projects that investigate maps and printed ephemera as social artifacts at the intersection of past, present, and future. She uses processes like cyanotype, lithography, and video to merge digital and analog technologies and emphasize print media’s roles in maintaining relationships - and erasures - between people and place. Susanna received her MFA from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, and her BFA from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. She has exhibited her artwork nationally and internationally, and attended residencies at Kunstnarhuset Mes- sen, Ålvik, Norway; Mildred’s Lane, Beach Lake, PA; Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh, Scotland, and Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA. Since 2015, she has taught printmaking as an Assistant Professor at In- I am delighted to be a part of this double issue of the diana University Southeast, New Albany, IN; and as MAPC Journal, and grateful to Guest Editor Jean Dibble, our Associate Director of Calliope Arts, a shared print- editing team, and the contributors for their hard work and generosity in sharing their experiences. In this issue, you’ll making workspace in Louisville, KY. find stories, journal entries, and reflections by MAPC members who are reaching outside of their studio environments to build support systems and networks, activate a variety of communities, and dive deeply in interdisciplinary research and approaches. This issue provides a dynamic forum and powerful reminder of the many ways MAPC members pro- pel their own and others’ creative practices throughout the country.

For me, MAPC conferences excel at conveying a sense of place and promoting engagement with the cities and towns that host them. I attended my first MAPC conference in Min- neapolis in 2010 as a graduate student, and remember just how exciting it was to experience a city for the first time through conference programming. The scale of the conference allowed me to see familiar faces yet explore extensive parts of the city’s arts communities. In every conference, panels, demonstrations, exhibitions, and other activities (like bowling!) have the capabil- ity to break down divisions between students and professors, professional and emerging artists, and practitioners from metropolitan arts “centers” and rural areas. As a lead conference organizer of the 2016 conference, I was thrilled by the opportunity to highlight over twenty arts venues and two university arts programs, and share what makes Louisville and Southern Indiana special. As President of MAPC, I look forward to the many ways that the 2020 conference, “The Power of Print,” will engage with Kent State University’s history as well as the arts institutions and organizations in the region surrounding Kent, Ohio. I hope to see you there! Jean A. Dibble GUEST EDITOR

Jean Dibble is a printmaker and painter that has exhibited extensively, both internationally and nationally since 1978. Her work and website reflect a wandering mind, well invested in daydream- ing. Recent years have been spent integrating text and image, as well as delving into portraiture. One of the founding members of the Mid America Print Council, a group dedicated to fostering the best in printmaking via conferences, exhibitions, research, and a journal, she has been active in the organization for most of its existence. A long-time member of Southern Graphics Council International, she had been a board member, an officer, and helped host a conference. She is an emerita professor from the University of Notre Dame. I was very pleased to be invited to be a guest editor for a MAPC Journal edition. My thinking was to review what we offer that is unique to our website. Working with Sukha and Dylan was wonderful, with their insights and timely remind- ers helping me complete the task. I so enjoyed reviewing our member pages and am glad that we have the opportunity to showcase the varied practice our members are involved within. As a membership organization with a website, we will have a historical record of some of the contributions we make to our profession. Hooray!! We jumped into our new roles as managing co-editors in winter, 2019, just as the finishing touches were being put on Volume 27: The Body in Print. Turns out there are a lot of minu- tiae in publishing an academic journal! We’re figuring it out as we go and deeply appreciate your patience and participation. Many thanks to the previous managing editor, Hannah March Sanders, for helping with the transition.

This double-volume, The Membership Edition, was already an inkling in a few eyes when we signed on. The ground- work for a collaboration with Jean Dibble as guest editor had been laid and we have loved working with her to see it through. With this edition, we are highlighting the excellent work being done by MAPC member artists and reflecting on the community we have created and are all invested in developing. This issue is full of personal stories about what it’s like to be a printmaker and how MAPC has shaped us. A special segment titled “Mak- ing Connections” features MAPC members from different generations reflecting on formative relationships and experiences from MAPC conferences. We also asked the artists selected for Jean’s article to respond to one of a number of questions aimed at unearthing personal stories and histories.

As with any undertaking, it can feel intimidating to enter into a new community or take on a new role within an existing one. We hope that the stories and work included here allow you the opportunity to reflect on your memories and connections Dylan Welch within our community -- and inspire you to make some more JOURNAL MANAGING EDITOR at the MAPC conference at Kent State in 2020!

Thank you for your membership!

Sukha Worob JOURNAL MANAGING EDITOR 8 GENERAL SUBMISSIONS FROM THE MEMBERSHIP

10 Mother Matrix Katie Christensen, Lisa Lofgren, Sarah Anne Shearer Three mother-members of MAPC reflect on being both artists and parents.

14 Jackalope Portfolio Organized by Oscar Gillespie Images from the Jackalope Portfolio featured at the MAPC conference in Laramie, WY.

20 Exploring Together: The Artists of Collaborative Books Rachel Singel Images from the MAPC panel presentation.

24 The DIY Roller Ross Mazzupappa Follow the process of invention and innovation of contemporary DIY brayers and rollers.

MAPC TRAVEL GRANT AWARDEES STORIES: 28 Elizabeth Claire Rose Graduate Awardee

34 lya finston Undergraduate Awardee

A CURATED EXHIBITION FROM OUR MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY: 42 Curatorial practice > Brittany Kieler and AJ Nordhagen

44 Installation/Printstallation > Emmy Bright > Hyeyoung Shin 9

46 Patterning > Laura Berman > Jean Gumpper > Lari Gibbons

49 Perception/Perceptual > Travis Janssen

50 Performance > Kate MacNeil > Jessica Caponigro

52 Practices within Traditional Printmaking > Janet Ballweg > Edie Overturf

54 Engagement with Science > Louise Fisher > Matthew Garcia

56 Social Practices > Breanne Trammell > Sukha Worob

58 Text/Books/Graphic Novels > Briar Craig > Cynthia Brinich-Langlois > Trishelle Jeffrey

61 Video/Animation > Heather Parrish > Nathan Meltz

63 Making Connections Members share connections they’ve made at MAPC conferences throughout the years 10

CONTRIBUTORS

MAPC RESEARCH ickson. They established and run a community TRAVEL GRANT AWARDEES art fun house called cometogetherspace—2200 sq. ft. of art studios, Lisa’s community printmaking facility titled Together Press, a ceram- ELIZABETH CLAIRE ROSE ics lab, woodshop, stage venue, gallery, and an Elizabeth Claire Rose was born near the sand apartment they call home. Lisa previously ran a prairies of Central Illinois, resided in Montana for community sales gallery that featured 40 local over a decade, and studied Slavic languages in artists. She currently teaches classes out of her Pittsburgh, PA. Rose earned her MFA in Printmak- studio, is registrar at University Galleries of Il- ing from Tyler School of Art at Temple University linois State University, and teaches art classes at in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and holds a BA in local colleges. Fine Art with a minor in Wilderness Studies from the University of Montana. Shearer moved back to Wyoming after com- pleting her Masters at Louisiana State University. Rose participated in the 2018 summer She co-owns a paint supply store with her husband Outpost Residency with Signal Fire on Mount St. where she assists in designing living spaces. Sarah Helens National Monument, WA, with support teaches various art classes at Northwest College from the MAPC Graduate Travel Award. Rose has and at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. With been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Poland two children as inspiration, she just finished her for 2019-2020. third collaborative mural commission in 2017 for the Buffalo Bill Center of the West using painted LYA FINSTON elements from youth classes to create an Aspen tree vista. Lya is an artist and printmaker originally from Cranford, NJ, but currently based in Chicago, IL. RACHEL SINGEL In May 2018, she graduated from Oberlin College with a double major in Studio Art and German Rachel Singel is an Assistant Professor at the Studies. University of Louisville. Rachel grew up on a small farm in Charlottesville, Virginia. She received a You can find Lya printing at Spudnik Press, Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia in where she’s a current fellow, and Hoofprint, where 2009 and a Masters of Fine Arts in Printmaking she assists with publishing projects. Lya also works from the University Iowa in 2013. at Ryerson Library of the Art Institute of Chicago, and LH Selman Ltd. Rachel has participated in residencies at the Penland School of Crafts, the Venice Print- making Studio, Scuola Internazionale di Grafica MAPC SUBMISSIONS Venezia, and Art Print Residence in Andalusia, Spain. MOTHER MATRIX KATIE CHRISTENSEN, LISA LOFGREN, ROSS MAZZUPAPPA AND SARAH ANNE SHEARER Ross Mazzupappa is the Instructor of Print- Christensen is currently the Curator of Educa- making and Photography at Bowling Green State tion and Statewide Engagement at the University University. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts of Wyoming Art Museum, serving preschool to from Youngstown State University, and Master of older adults. She is an active member of the Gem Fine Arts from the University of Iowa. He incorpo- City Art Team, a five member collective dedicated rates a wide range of traditional printmaking, 19th to artists, their crafts and their communities and century photographic processes, and emerging located in the historic Laramie Plains Civic Center digital technologies into his artwork. in Laramie, Wyoming. Katie was the founding director at Brush Creek Foundation for the arts Born and raised in Youngstown Ohio Ross ex- and the previous arts education specialist at the plores concerns of the Rust Belt including ideas Wyoming Arts Council. of industry, environment, and utility. Ross also is interested in technical research ranging from DIY Lofgren shares a passion for the diversity rollers to developing new photomechanical tech- of community arts with her partner Matt Er- niques. 11 12

Sarah Shearer Bodies of Erosion: Reconnecting. Intaglio, lithography, mixed media collage, 7 x 11” Variable Ed. 3/13 2018 13 Three printmakers who found their roots in printmaking at the University of Wyoming discussed how they are developing community in their established hometowns, how they are rediscovering themselves as artists with children, and what it means to be westerners.

Artists Katie Christensen (UW ’03), Lisa Lofgren (UW ’09), Sarah Anne Shearer (UW ’10) discussed KATIE the necessity of community-based CHRISTENSEN involvement and the reality of motherhood by placemaking with other passionate artists, by questioning the expectations of being mothers, and by rejuvenating the autonomous artist within.

Each artist touched on coming to terms with living in or leaving the west and how the western necessity of valu- ing your neighbor was retained in their resettlements.

The artists talked about the role of collage and the use of their personal print archives as the new focus in a restructured studio practice. The trio commented on their dependents, independence, and progress forward now that their pre-children days are LISA behind them, and finally, how this fuels LOFGREN their drive to create networks. Shearer states, “The Mother Matrix project for MAPC in Laramie, Wyo- ming did many beneficial things for me. One interesting and invigorating experience that came to light from Mother Matrix was discovering a residency that I could actually fit into my schedule. Due to my commitments, it is nearly impossible for me to even think about leaving town for an artist residency.

However, in researching other artists who are also mothers, I ran across a website called Artist Residency in Motherhood. I signed up online and designed my own schedule. I was the first SARAH Wyoming participant to register on the ANNE SHEARER World Map. 14

Julia Goos Fragment Intaglio, mixed media, 11 x 7”. Variable Ed. 9/13 2018

In this residency you are encour- once in a while was able to work in my aged to use the obstacles that are in- studio. I was working on a much small- herent to mothers as material instead er scale. My practice has completely of barriers such as limited working time, changed from mostly making prints working with young children, and work- with a press to cutting up and utilizing ing while being completely exhausted. pre-made material or improving prints For example, I carried my ‘studio’ with by adding other materials such as paint, me to work, the kitchen table, and every colored pencil, or powdered pigments. 15

Working in this way I can start and Resources: Left to right: Melissa Haviland stop without any setup or cleanup, as • Sustainable Arts Foundation Ride it Like a Wave 2 my time slots are small and fragmented. (provide financial support to Digital and screen print, parents pursuing creative work) 7 x 11”. Variable Ed. 3 & 9/13 I completed the residency but 2018 continue to work in this similar way. Gesine Janzen Through this effort, I made a conscious • Red Thread (funds a self-directed One Hundred Year Flood action to make my studio work a prior- artist residency in your own home) Woodcut, collage, rubber ity.” stamp, 11 x 7”. Variable Ed. 3 & 9/13 2018 “I consider issues of family and lin- • Museum of Motherhood eage and the debates of nurture versus (online and physical space: Lisa Lofgren nature. I view the table as a platform exhibits, classes, conferences) Pint & Half Pint for interaction--from conversation to Woodcut, serigraphy, negotiation—especially as a mother.” collage, 7 x 11”. Variable Ed. 3/13 – Melissa Haviland • Mothers Who Make (UK, peer 2018 support network)

The panel discussion brought to mind issues including the lasting Femi- • Creative Capital Webinar: nist platform “Personal is Political;” the Artists Raising Kids title of Motherhood opposes the title of Artist; Art about motherhood is low “I treat my time in the studio like in the “Fine Art Hierarchy” established an empty page in a novel that I am left by leading galleries and museums; to fill in and I regard my work in a new “Motherhood is the last taboo in Con- way. It is not exact or specific, rather it temporary Art,” quoted from curator has become negotiable, interpretable, and writer Jori Finkel; and “Mother and and ever changing.” Child” is a prominent image through- –Julia Goos out art history books/teachings, but is rarely, if ever, a theme. Plans for a 2020 portfolio exchange This historical and contemporary call to artists are underway with the goal reference brought up the question of of offering this portfolio every other how we individually define success, year, in addition to growing the network and how we can together re-estab- of nurturing mothers connected through lish what it means to be a successful Facebook and other online social groups mother and maker. that may arise from the community. 16 Jack alope Port folio

Samantha Mendoza Texas’ Answer to the Minotaur Silkscreen 15”x20” 17

OSCAR GILLESPIE

At our recent MAPC Conference in Laramie, Wyoming, an exhibition of a rumored species graced the walls of Coal Creek Tap.

Fitting, since up the road to Dubois in the foothills of the Tetons is the Jackalope Museum. Wy- oming fully embraces its native lore. The frontier is eternally mysterious, and popular mythology has forever been a part of the lure The artists included to travel to the West. It may be in the folio and the cultural diversity and mystical exhibition are: quality of the land that provides such Marwin Begaye a rich imagination that it will invoke DeborahMae Broad imaginary creatures who may popu- late the mountains, canyons and high Sydney Cross plains. Certainly, there must be wild, James Ehlers enchanted species still hiding away in Oscar Gillespie the lost recesses of the back country. Laura Grossett Printmakers have historically Karla Hackenmiller been drawn to depict enigmatic John Hancock beasts. Etching, scratching, cutting, Stephanie Hunder drawing and stenciling, we love to Brian Kelly breathe life into our hypothetical whims and illusions. Schongauer’s Evan Lindquist demons in his Temptation of St. An- Carrie Lingscheit thony come to mind as examples, Katherine Liontas-Warren as does Durer’s Rhinoceros. The Beauvais Lyons story goes that Albrecht created his beast based on descriptions, Samantha Mendoza having never seen one himself. His Johanna Mueller Monstrous Pig of Landser is anoth- Meghan O’Connor er engraved depiction of a curious- Kathryn Polk ly malformed specimen with extra sets of forehooves and ears dangling Andrew Polk upside down from its back. Joris Hoef- Joanne Price nagel included a horned hare among Jessica Robles other rabbits in Plate XLVII of his Rox Sexauer Animalia Quadrupedia et Reptilia, an odd inclusion in that most of Melanie Yazzie. his representations are based on fact.

Johanna Mueller Jackalope, An ode to Western Lore Wood engraving 15”x20” 18

Carrie Lingscheit Jackalope Family, Mezzotint 15”x20” 19

https://insider.si.edu/2014/10/ Was there truly a such an animal So, if there is a single favorite illu- worlds-scariest-rabbit-lurks- during the sixteenth century? sion that captures and thrills us most, within-smithsonians-collec- especially when we think of trekking tion/ It seems there may be an origin for to the wilds of America, it may be the this fantasy. A wonderful lepus speci- idea that there are members of Lepus Eastern Cottontail Rabbit Sylvilagus floridanus. men actually exists in a drawer at the townsendii, the White-tailed Jackrab- (Photo: Micaela Jemison) Smithsonian’s National Museum of bit, that have evolved to grow horns. Natural History. It is often called the It has been storied around campfires “Frankenstein” rabbit, a cottontail with that they mimic human speech to con- a nest of horn-like growths in a mass fuse and confound men when hunted, on its head, keratinized protrusions and they surely must be able to reach resulting from a papillomavirus. There speeds exceeding one hundred miles are a number of images on the inter- per hour since they vanish in a flash. net showing hares and rabbits stricken Such abilities allow them to elude us with the Shope virus. so that the mystique continues. 20

A little bit fact and more than describing and defining and labeling a pinch of make-believe, our Jack- the natural world and our long obses- alope Portfolio has given participants sion with enchantment are sustained a chance to share their own extraor- by new interpretations. dinary vision of a hare with twin (or more) bony appendages mounted to Rumor has it we had beers and its skull, allowing us to add to the lore. saw strange things at the tap on Grand The long tradition in printmaking of Avenue in Laramie last October. Joris Hoefnagel “Plate XLVII of Animalia Qvadrvpedia et Reptilia (Terra)” Watercolor and gouache, with oval border in gold, on vellum, 14.3 x 18.4 cm circa 1575

From wikipedia: https:// commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Animalia_Qvadrvpedia_ et_Reptilia_(Terra)_Plate_ XLVII.jpg https://bit.ly/2OV5tJg https://s.si.edu/34UFgQE 21

Beauvais Lyons Circus Orbis Souvenir Print: The Giant Jackalope Litho, 15”x20” 22 Exploring Together: The Artists of Collaborative Books

Presentation by Susan Lowdermilk. 23

Tallmadge Doyle Aviary Hand-colored etchings RACHEL and woodcuts 2011, Digital edition 2017 SINGEL

This panel sought to consider the types of collaborative books that groups of artists create and the circumstances surrounding them.

What may be the impetus for their creation? What roles do artists assume? What is the responsibility of the artist to the group to follow the pa- rameters of the print’s theme, size, and type of paper, etc.?

The panel consisted of five participants: Amanda Lee, Susan Lowder- milk, Amanda Maciuba, Kalmia Strong, Annu Vertanen, and Sarita Zaleha. The artists presented their life and work as it related to the “rugged individual” versus “good citizen.”

When I was an undergraduate at the University of Virginia, I started taking printmaking classes because of my love for drawing, though it was the collaborative book project each semester that really made me want to keep making prints. I am incredibly grateful to the panelists for sharing their work and the many ways that collaborative books have influenced their personal practices, as well as build community in the printshop and in the larger art field. 24

Presentation by Kalmia Strong. Photos from zine-making workshop

Presentation by Amanda Maciuba. Photo of Robin Byer, Beth McMurphy, Ellie Lecompte, Mary Wharff, Angie Babbit,Tim O’Brein & Mary Gage (and Lawrence Arts Center Staff Kyla Strid, Tonja Torgerson & Susan Tate. 25

Presentation by Annu Vertanen. Photo of Ex:hi, Volume 3: Visionary Workbook Performance by the Printmaker’s Left

Presentation by Annu Vertanen. Ex.hi. Volume Three: Visionary Workbook 26

Honing a Process: The DIY Roller

Ross Mazzupappa Roller 4” diameter 9” wide roller with laser-cut caddie. The first success roller made with the casting process. 27

I first started this journey in 2014 where I attempted to make a small diameter brayer with threaded rod through the middle. I was making a great deal of photo-relief copper plates that required hard durometer brayers to ink up consistently. I cobbled together from discarded PVC pipe and scrap plywood a crude mold. For my roller surface I somehow settled on silicone caulking. I think that decision stemmed from Sugru, a moldable silicone putty, being at its advertising peak and I thought it had potential. To my surprise the brayer looked promising after demolding. I set out to make my first prints. With everything laid out in the shop and ready to go, I mixed up a stiff relief ink and pulled out a bead across the glass. As I rolled across the ink wait- ROSS ing to see the deposit lift towards me, MAZZUPAPPA there was nothing. The ultra-smooth surface of the silicone completely repelled picking up any ink. Feeling defeated I set aside this experiment. Printmakers who are fortunate It wasn’t until years later after other enough to teach at a univer- research led me to castable urethane sity have access to resources would I find the resolve to make my own brayer. beyond the reach of most print artists. I was aware of previous printmakers making their own rollers in the I have my choice of tools and equip- past. Nik Semenoff’s large diameter ment essential to the practice, and spe- rollers in “New Direction in Printmak- cially designed for the craft. However, ing: The Technical Side” 1, and those in there seems to be an unending con- the letterpress industry casting sea- versation among graduating students sonal gelatin rollers. While inspiring on how they can continue their studio and informative there was a tempo- work without academic surroundings. rality to them that didn’t fit the effort Being in a fairly isolated Midwest loca- in my mind. However, they provided tion, more than a couple hours away a great foundation that evolved into from a major city, those who prefer my process. The hardest question to 1. Semenoff, Nik. to live outside of metropolitan areas answer was what to use as the surface “Construction.” In are unable to access art communities of the roller itself? I had investigated New Directions of and non-profit print shops. However, boat trailer rollers, but they were all Printmaking: the from I’ve observed, even those com- too stiff of durometer for printing, lim- technical side. Saskatoon: Dragonfly munities struggle with the ability to ited in sizes, and had seams from the Productions, access quality tools and equipment. 2-part casting process. I then consid- 2008. 25-26. Given our nearly infinite access to in- ered closed-cell insulating foam but formation and commodities in the US, again, the sizes are limited, and the 2. “Speedball Brayers.” there had to be a solution in which our material would not hold up to heavy SpeedballArt.com. www.speedballart.com/ specialized tools can be made without use. I realized I would have to find a our-product-lines/ the need to spend hundreds to thou- material closely related to those used speedball-printmaking/ sands of dollars. Having had extensive in the brayers and rollers of the major speedball-blockrelief- participation in DIY culture, it only felt suppliers. Speedball makes a small printing/speedball- natural to put my experience to use and affordable brayer of soft natu- block-printing-tools- 2 accessories/ but where to begin? Well, what about ral rubber latex . Probably the most speedball-brayers/ that tool which most of us pick up first; widely available brayer but the trad- (accessed February 23, the brayer, and its larger brother the eoff is a limited diameter and length 2019). roller? unsuitable for large projects. 28

3. “Takach Rollers and Takach makes high-quality large By estimating the volume of the Brayers.” TakachPress diameter brayers and rollers using a outside of my 2-inch PVC and subtract- .com www.takachpress combination of natural and buna ni- ing it from the estimated volume of the .com/access/rollers.htm trite rubber 3. These products are com- inside of the 3-inch PVC I had an idea (accessed February 23, 2019). monly preferred in most professional of the total cubic inches of volume to and university settings for their quality fill the gap between them. Smooth-On 4. “Urethane Rubber.” and longevity, but price is a drawback. has a great material calculator on their Smooth-On.com. While working on molds for another website which made determining the www.smooth-on.com/ project I noticed the Smooth-On com- weight of rubber easy 5. This plugged category/urethane- rubber/ pany had an extensive line of castable right in to the material calculator and 4 (accessed February 23, urethane rubbers . Furthermore, they I had my total volume. I had the fore- 2019). were similar durometers to which most sight to mix a couple ounces more printmakers are accustomed to using. than what I needed, and thankfully so. 5. “Mold Making & Casting With the roller surface potentially Calculators.” Smooth-On. www.smooth-on.com/ solved the next step was to figure out On my first attempt to pour the support/calculators/ how to make the roller and all the nec- rubber into the mold I kept pouring (accessed February 23, essary parts for it to function as simi- onto and inside of the 2-inch PVC. 2019). larly to which most are familiar with. After this, I’ve started to make my inside (smaller diameter) PVC core At this point it was important for taller than the outside piece. This me to revisit my motivations and es- limits pouring into the middle of the tablish some benchmark goals for the mold and provides an added lip to project. It was in my highest priority help pour against. After waiting over- that all the materials used had to be night, it was time to demold. This was easily obtainable or locally sourced. and still continues to be an area of the With Smooth-On being a globally ac- process that needs some work. While cessible company with more than two there is mold release on the PVC, dozen distributors across the US, it the rubber does not pull away easily. certainly met my criteria. For casting It takes a bit of force and patience. the urethane to obtain an even, seam- After I separated the formed rubber less finish I revisited the idea of using from the mold it looked great. The PVC pipe. It’s common at hardware same inside diameter pipe from the stores and it comes in various sizes and casting is used to support the rubber length making scaling customizable to and the familiar form of a roller begins Ross Mazzupappa most needs. To make my first mold I to take shape. The caps for the open FancyBrayer cut a 3-inch and 2-inch diameter pipe ends of the pipe, brayer handles, and 3” diameter 8” wide marbled urethane brayer to a little over 6-inches in length and roller caddies are all made of wood. It with laser engraved handle. glued the 2-inch pipe centered in an is cheap, lightweight, and can be cut This brayer was testing endcap meant for the 3-inch pipe. By with hand tools. For the sake of ac- the ability to marble the using an inside and outside pipe less curacy and rapid-prototyping I have urethane with two dyes rubber will be required, very similar to been using a Glowforge laser cutter/ and adding cosmetic enhancements for added an aluminum core Takach brayer. engraver to cut birch-veneered un- flair. derlayment that is a little less than one quarter inch thick. Although most people don’t have access to a laser cutter, the wood parts can easily be made with a compass, jigsaw, and drill bits. For brayers I use threaded rodding, nuts and washer from the hardware store. As well as 1-inch wood dowel for handles. The result, although very DIY in aesthetic, main- tains the similarity of form printmakers expect.

Printing for the first time with my brayer was exactly how you would expect any other commercially available brayer to perform. Inking is smooth and consistent. Cleanup was the normal procedure we’ve setup in 29

our shop using food-grade mineral oil When I first shared the results of Ross Mazzupappa followed by a vinegar water mix to this research online with the greater InkyBrayer degrease. Never use chemical degreas- printmaking community I was blown Printing with the cast brayer for the first time. er like Simple Green as they will dry out away by the overwhelming support. The urethane proves itself the rubber. Urethane can also be dam- I honestly did not think many would to be even, and consistent aged by long-term exposure to direct find this type of project worthwhile or in its ability to pick-up and sunlight. It is best to keep them cov- interesting. However, I quickly learned deposit oil-based ink. ered and away from windows. Despite there is a large group of printmakers the similarity of feeling when using who have few connections to well- these rollers/brayers there are differ- funded programs or studios and are in ences between them and the previous- need of an endeavor like this. Within ly mentioned brands. Using a synthetic weeks I was invited to conduct a two- rubber as opposed to natural rubbers day workshop in Philadelphia for 16 there is a limited lifespan based on people. BYO Print, run by Katie Van- care and use. Without any long-term Vliet, hosted the event and Printmak- testing I estimate the roller surface will ers Open Forum, run by Shelley Thor- last between 3-5 years if taken care of stensen, co-hosted and organized properly. Other colleagues have sug- the online presence 6. The workshop gested closer to 7-10 years but I prefer filled in less than 24 hours, and it was to err on the side of caution. However, an amazing experience. We made 16 with how affordable it is to recast a 4-inch diameter 9-inch long rollers in urethane cylinder and replace a dete- those two-days. I learned a lot from riorated one, it is far more reasonable that first workshop, and I’m still learn- to make multiple times over. Another ing as I hear back from everyone’s limitation of my method is access to experiences printing with the rollers PVC pipe in sizes 6-inches or greater they have made. As we keep finding for making very large rollers. Due to tweaks and adjustments to improve the extrusion process PVC is less uni- the process. I want to continue to form on the inside the larger it is made. provide the community of printmak- 6. Thorstensen, Shelley. This sometimes results in slight dime- ers with the ability to make their own “Outreach: Workshops sized low spots on 4-inch rollers but quality rollers and brayers. I plan to Off Site.” I’m confident they will wear away fast write detailed instructions to publish PrintmakersOpenForum. with use. To circumnavigate this prob- online, seek out workshop opportuni- org. http://printmakers openforum.org/ lem I have begun to turn the rubber ties, demonstrate at conferences, and outreach/workshops_ castings inside out after demolding, share as much as I can. You can find off_site (accessed because the outside of PVC is always the project as “Ross Rollers” and on February 23, 2019). more uniform than the inside. social media as #RossRollers. 30 Grant Awardees

GRADUATE RESEARCH TRAVEL GRANT: Elizabeth Claire Rose

ELIZABETH CLAIRE ROSE

Place Shift (installation view) lithograph, risograph, intaglio, and mezzotint on asuka, gampi and kitikata gampi, with chine colle, 9 prints, 22”x18” each, 74”x62” installed 2019 31

In summer 2018, I was invited David Bower Tent by Signal Fire, with support Outpost Residency from MAPC, to do a summer Mount Saint Helens residency for a week on the slopes of Mount Saint Helens in Washington state. What follows are excerpts from my journal while staying in the scientific research area.

Journal Entries from the Outpost Residency on Loowit - Mount Saint Helens National Monument August 13-19th, 2018: “Staying at the David Brower tent at signal fire’s Outpost residency at Mount Saint Helens chal- lenges my personal level of comfort in wild areas and the backcountry. I am perched on an out of the way ridge, high above some areas of replanted forest overlooking a pond, some roads, and deep landslides. The trees around me are tall and thick for their relative youth, and at night appear as a dense canopy of impenetrable darkness. Grant Awardees 32

I carry my high-lumen headlamp through the steep uphill trail at night, staying alert to sounds and sudden movement. Above my camp, sits my latrine, near a site where a mountain lion did the same thing. With my light, I expect eyes to reflect back at me, if I were to catch them. So far I haven’t seen anything. My light brings me safety, and has become a tool not just for illuminating my nightly hike, but also for art-making. With my light, I highlight features to better see what I am looking at, but I also use it to draw attention to them. Fighting the fear, and awkward silence I feel while working alone in wild areas, in mountain lion and bear country, I make long ex- posures, demonstrating my short lived impact on Mount Saint Helens environs.

“I am encamped on a pumice and ash surface, littered with pine duff. Behind closed gates, I sit in a restricted area, filled with a rejuvenating forest. The eruption of Mount St Helens happened a mere six months before my birth. I am roughly the same age as the newly developing forest, turned red by the smoky skies, blocking views of the wide jaws of the crater, and the distant Mount Adams. Inside the crater of Mount Saint Helens is Crater Glacier, a new glacier growing inside the crater since the blast. My view of Mount Adams is obscured by smokey skies, forest fires from nearby Goat Mountain Wilderness, and the whole Rocky Mountain West, to Cali- fornia.

“Here the pumice and ash coat the surface of the ground, making it difficult for new plants to take root. With the gradual decay of animals and plants onto the new forest floor, nutrients are deposited. My surroundings include stumps of old growth sal- vage logged trees, maybe two hundred years old or more, and fresh, little seedlings, naturally selected by the density of ash present. Fireweed and Pearly Everlasting blooms, and large thickets of huckleberries prolifically produce the largest berries I have ever seen. Kicking steps in soft ash dunes as I climb the ridgelines, I become coated in a layer of volcanic ash, turning my skin a chalky gray. Noble Fir sap mists the berries I eat, and creates a sweet Bear Rope and shiny coating of sugar. Grant Awardees 33

Blown Off Intaglio in Relief, Photo-lithograph, and Risograph with Asuka and Chine Colle on BFK 22” x 18” 2019

Old growth stump and seedling Grant Awardees 34

Loowit “Observations : a bumblebee take several handfuls, and proceed checked out out my dress, confused to the next patch on my way to base by its bright blue and white pattern, camp. I feel like the luckiest person, it landed on me. Yesterday morning, to see wildlife up close, have creature a hummingbird approached my floral- comforts, and to be able to have a patterned running shorts, which were truly remote and wild experience. This drying on the clothesline. The floral opportunity is not only inspirational, motif clearly attracted these wild crea- but a truly wild experience. I woke up tures. Our impact is even more com- with such a good mood, enjoying the plicated and hard to define then I had light of the rising sun, even through previously thought. If I wore brown, the smoke, it was beautiful. Everything would I blend into the trunk of a tree, has an orange glow. “ confusing an owl or a bear. If I dressed in a pine cone pattern would a chip- With MAPC’s support I was able to munk try to sample me? fully embrace the Signal Fire Outpost Residency. These images are a sam- “The fragrance of the forest is pling of the results of this incredible fantastic. I am lucky to call this place week on the mountain.” home for a few days. It’s amazing to walk down the slope into a berry patch, Thanks, Elizabeth Grant Awardees 35

Ash Plume Intaglio Monoprint in relief with Woodcut and Chine Colle 2019 Grant Awardees 36

Incident on S Professor St Stone lithograph, 11”x15” 2018

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH TRAVEL GRANT: LYA FINSTON Grant Awardees 37

to the media.

In my recent work, the osage orange — a tree with large, brainy, neon green fruit — appears frequently. During my time as an undergraduate student in northeastern Ohio, I discovered these fruit in an arboretum a few blocks from my house. I was immediately struck by their alien appearance, and I began collecting, drawing, researching, and dreaming of them frequently. This fascination took my ar- tistic practice on a road down natural history that I never anticipated.

The extinction of the dinosaurs LYA allowed for the rise — both literally FINSTON and figuratively — of the mammals. The Pleistocene era or the “Ice Age,” saw the birth of the megafauna (“big animals” in Latin). Elephants and gi- Lya Finston was the under- raffes are examples of megafauna graduate awardee of MAPC’s that still exist today. Their ancestors in 2018 Research Travel Grant. the Pleistocene included mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, and — my per- During October’s conference sonal favorite — the megatherium, or in Laramie, WY, Lya presented giant ground sloth. on the work this grant allowed Megatherium was a species of ele- her to produce. phant-sized sloths that roamed South America. Paleontologists speculate Lya is an artist and printmaker orig- that osage orange fruit were eaten inally from Cranford, NJ, but currently and dispersed by megatherium. Due to based in Chicago, IL. In May 2018, she their large size at roughly five inches graduated from Oberlin College with a in diameter, and how difficult it was double major in Studio Art and German for me to cut into one with a kitchen Studies. You can find Lya printing at knife, it wasn’t hard for me to believe Spudnik Press, where she’s a current that these fruit were designed for fellow, and Hoofprint, where she assists throats and teeth much larger than my with publishing projects. Lya also works own. That being said, nothing eats the at Ryerson Library of the Art Institute of osage orange anymore, making it an Chicago, and LH Selman Ltd. anachronistic ghost of evolution. 1

As a lithographer born into the In- The fact that the osage orange formation Age, I’m very interested in continues to fall across the Americas investigating the bygone era of hand- despite its obsolescence adds to its press printmaking as a primary mass inherent mystery and magic, inviting media tool. In figurative, yet absurd the creation of alternative histories and dreamlike illustrations, I strive to surrounding the fruit’s continued pres- harness the reifying power that I find ence. Devoid of all other function, the inherent to lithography’s graphic qual- osage is almost like a living fossil, serv- ity due to its commercial history and ing as the prehistoric relic of past life the space it occupies within our cul- on Earth. Similarly, the same Solnhofen 1. Barlow; Connie C. tural memory. By doing so, I hope to Limestone that first fossilized the Ar- (2000). The ghosts of create prints that confuse reality and chaeopteryx (the missing link between evolution: nonsensical the supernatural, communicating my feathered dinosaurs and modern birds) fruit, missing partners, and other ecological understanding that, from lithography’s is used by lithographers as a fossil in a anachronisms . heyday to the rise of the internet, vir- more metaphorical sense, maintaining New York: Basic Books. tually nothing has changed when it the ghostly memory of artists and im- ISBN 978-0-465-00551-2. comes to the state of truth in relation agery gone by. Grant Awardees 38

Further, stone lithography was our primary means of disseminating information from its invention in 1796 to the 1960s, when photomechanical processes took its place. Since then, lithography has transformed from a major media tool to an antique process utilized by a comparatively small frac- tion of the global population. Knowing this, pulling lithographs in 2019 makes me feel like a time traveler participat- ing in an anachronistic tradition. This strong relationship to obsolescence and fossilization makes lithography the perfect medium for dissecting the history, memory, and magic that organic material, like the osage orange, contains.

My theory is that megatherium still live among us, hiding beneath the earth, and that’s why osage oranges continue to fall. In my application for the MAPC Travel Grant, I proposed a project in which I’d explore the power of the press to realize this theory. By doing so, I hoped to dissect and ex- ploit my relationship to material, documentation, truth, and distortion as a lithographer in the age of information. By making prints of and about the megatherium, I also intended to investigate the nuanced obsolescence of the osage orange in tandem with that of printmaking as a mass media tool.

From May-October 2018, I made work surrounding these ideas in 4 different states: (1) Ohio, where I was finishing school at the time of my grant acceptance, (2) New Jersey, where I grew up, (3) Michigan, where I spent a week studying lithography at Ox-Bow School of Art, and (4) Chicago, where I now live. The first piece I made as part of this project was an animated lithograph called Incident on S Pro- fessor Street that I printed at Oberlin . The idea behind this print came from sitting on the porch with my house- mates, looking at the oranges I’d col- lected and spitballing magical phe- nomena. Eventually someone asked, “What if we wake up tomorrow to find that the oranges grew roots into our porch overnight and we couldn’t get them out?” I immediately fell in love with this idea and thought to myself: Cardboard tubes, What if it really does happen? Screenprinting, 2019 In midwestern lore, osage orang- Grant Awardees 39

Plaster cast osage oranges, es have the power to repel insects. Thinking of Kipniss’s manipula- spray paint, screenprinting, Though scientists debunked this myth tion of familiarity and place, it was im- 2018 long ago, I’ve met many people from portant that the porch I drew was my Ohio and Illinois that still believe it. A own so I could set the comfort and friend of mine told me his mother used normality it symbolized for me in con- to have him and his siblings collect trast with the strange forms growing osage oranges from the woods. Under into it. In an effort to imbue the piece her instruction, they’d place one fruit with additional magic, I drew an open at each outside corner of the house to sky behind the scene in place of the keep bugs away. I’ve also discovered front lawn, hoping it’d seem as though people online who claim osage oranges my porch was floating in midair. The can cure cancer and prevent demen- chair was also unique to my porch, tia. The osage’s alien appearance, pre- functioning as another symbol of fa- historic roots, and local mythology all miliarity which I distorted with a long, fed into my fascination with the idea of dark shadow. My greatest motivation them growing and behaving in ways I behind Incident on S Professor St was couldn’t understand or control. to illustrate it in order to make it real. The moving animation I made from it In Incident on S Professor Street, I was meant to breathe additional life drew 3 osage oranges growing into my into a phenomenon that I found equal- porch ledge. At the time, I was looking ly frightening, beautiful, and plausible. at a lot of Robert Kipniss’s lithographs. I wanted my print to assume the same The second edition I completed quiet eeriness that made me fall in love was a copperplate etching with chine- with his work. Despite a strong sense of collé called Paradise, which I printed at manmade place, works like Back Porch Frontline Arts in New Jersey. emphasize the feeling of isolation that shrouds the flat midwestern earth, re- The primary motivation behind calling the perpetual, foreboding pres- this piece was to impose my new un- ence of the vast unknown even in the derstanding of life’s origins on Earth most familiar spaces. — as informed by my fascination with Grant Awardees 40

the right isn’t truely a sloth, but a hu- manbeing in a mask and gloves. This is a reference to the large role that human hunting played on the extinction of the megatherium. With that in mind, I situated my disguised human figure in the place of Eve from Dürer’s engraving, as she’s the character responsible for the demise of her counterpart. While working on this print, there was also a part of me that felt as though the head beneath the sloth mask was my own. By inserting myself into the piece, I was fulfilling a desire for closeness with the species I so admire and fear I’ll never encounter.

The third piece I completed was a stone lithograph called Triplets that I printed at Ox-Bow in Michigan. This print addresses my theory the most directly of the three, as it depicts a sloth family hiding beneath the earth. Be- tween the two osage oranges, I drew a glass bottle as a way of indicating that the scene is set in modern day. The human presence that I incorporated in Paradise with the masked figure appears again here with a dark, human hand. The three baby sloths for whom this piece is named were meant to emphasize the fact that megatherium are Cardboard tubes, not only still alive, but thriving as a Screenprinting, species just beneath out feet. 2019 After finishing this edition, I immediately began converting it into a our mammalian ancestors — on man’s gif. I love animating my prints after the biblical beginnings in paradise. In an fact because it pushes me to imagine effort to incorporate additional art his- how my figures would move if they torical relevance and humour, I drew could, imbueing them with additional largely from Albrecht Dürer’s The Fall life while testing my own creativity. of Man (Adam and Eve). Though the In many ways, this reminds me of the apple tree is replaced with an osage, challenge anthropologists face when I was sure to include the ibex perched reconstructing creatures that no hu- at the edge of a cliff from Dürer’s orig- manbeing has ever seen before, as inal engraving. Knowing that goats was certainly the case with the mega- were a traditional symbol of the un- therium. believing, Dürer pairs the moment just before the ibex falls from the cliff with The last pieces I completed during the moment just before Adam and the MAPC grant period were plaster Eve bite into the serpent’s forbidden casts of osage orange halves. Once fruit. Incoporating this symbol of belief dry, I screenprinted interior views for from The Fall of Man felt apt to me, as each piece, which I then pasted onto I was delving into my own exploration their flat sides. This project was partic- of belief in tandem with printmaking’s ularly exciting for me because I’d never reifying, graphic qualities, along with worked with sculpture before. my theory of the living megatherium. The mold-making process remind- In this print, I used chine-collé to ed me a lot of printmaking, and mar- emphasize the fact that the figure on rying the two worked perfectly since Grant Awardees 41

Plaster cast osage oranges, spray paint, screenprinting, 2018 both media share the ability to pro- secting my personal relationship to duce multiples. I worked on this last place. My most recent print is a plate project progressively throughout the lithograph of the Loveland Frog — a entire grant period: I made my sili- humanoid frog that’s said to appear cone molds in Ohio, cast them in New along the roadsides of Loveland, Ohio. Jersey, and printed their interiors in In order to make this piece relevant Chicago. For this reason, these sculp- to my own Ohioan experience, I was tures seemed to tie my travels and re- sure to include osage oranges in the search together. foreground. I also hoped that by in- corporating them, my audience would Since the end of the grant research view my oranges with the same sense period, I’ve been piecing together a of magic, intrigue, and fear that they larger installation in order to give my might associate with the Loveland casts additional context. This instal- Frog. I look forward to including more lation will consist of 3 or more raised easter eggs of this kind in my future platforms covered in turf and decorat- work, tying my prints together while ed with various screenprinted, sculp- working toward the a symbiotic, visual tural elements. I’m currently making language of my own. trees by screenprinting a repeat pattern of bark texture onto thin paper, I’d like to give an enormous thank which I then paste in tiles around tall, you to MAPC for this incredible op- cardboard cylinders. By pushing my portunity. As a very recent graduate, I work into the third dimension, I hope wouldn’t have been able to create any to further reify the life of the megath- of the work I talk about in this article erium. without it. I’m still riding the creative path that MAPC set out for me when I I’ve also begun exploring region- first received this grant, and I look for- al cryptozoology as a means of dis- ward to all it holds for me in the future. 42 43

ship’s portfolios, and then their web- sites, was deeply informative, exciting, and opened me to new knowledge.

An important point to note is that many printmakers work in a variety of practices. In this article I simply choose one area to present of an artist’s oeuvre. I include website addresses so that the reader can visit the artist’s site, see the depth of the practice, as well as look at the work on the membership portfolio page of MAPC.

Not only do many of our membership engage in multiple practices, some work engages several kinds of practice together. It is difficult to un- knit works of art, fortunately, and my use of a specific label allows me to follow a thought and work it through to a destination. Not the destination, JEAN DIBBLE, just one destination. And not the work PROFESSOR EMERITA but one aspect of an artist’s artwork. The specific practices are in no order other than alphabetical. When I Hello MAPC Membership! have an opportunity to mention other practitioners whose work is interest- From our website membership ing, they too are in alphabetical order. directory, I have gone through each No one person or thing is more impor- member’s page to familiarize myself tant that the other! to their work in order to write about the areas of interest printmakers work within, and to select a few artist’s work CURATORIAL PRACTICE Page 44 to highlight.

I have organized the article pri- INSTALLATION / PRINTSTALLATION Page 46 marily by specific practices within the larger arena of printmaking. As the PATTERNING Page 48 methodology for thinking through printmaking in order to make an art practice has developed over time, PERCEPTION / PERCEPTUAL Page 51 I noticed several strands that our group finds themselves investigating. This article is not totally comprehen- PERFORMANCE Page 52 sive, but as I reviewed lots of artwork, I was struck by the several themes noted below. I was also struck by the PRACTICES WITHIN TRADITIONAL PRINTMAKING Page 54 fine work being done by the membership. Deeply engaged in challenging ideas and very fine craft was evident ENGAGEMENT WITH SCIENCE Page 56 throughout the work I chose for this article. SOCIAL PRACTICES Page 58 A deep engagement with an artist’s work was necessary for me in TEXT / BOOKS / GRAPHIC NOVELS Page 60 order to think through the various elements of that work and arrive at some thoughts. Having the opportunity to VIDEO / ANIMATION Page 63 do that with some of the member- 44 CURATORIAL PRACTICE > Brittany Kieler and AJ Nordhagen

The work shown here is from the installation of the portfolio Sight- ings. The website for Sightings, gives viewers the opportunity to read the abstract, see all of the work of the artists in the portfolio, and lists the exhibition venues.

Many printmakers put together portfolios and curate exhibitions. The curatorial practice here is highlighted, and the insights gained by Ms. Kieler and her collaborator, AJ Nordhagen, are available for the viewer in a way that I appreciate deeply.

The Abstract page lets the viewer know what the portfolio is about, and the curators give us the impetus for creating it, as well as the specifica- tions. A full page dedicated to each artist with a reproduction of the print and text determined by the artist, reflects a curatorial practice that creates a deep dive for the reader.

www.brittanykieler.com www.sightingsinprint.com/exhibitions.html

ARTISTS INCLUDED IN THE EXHIBITION • Marcus • Maren Muñoz Benavides • AJ Nordhagen • Liz Born • Edie Overturf • Douglas Bosley • Kathryn Polk • Molly Bounds • Brett Rees • Derrick Buisch • Jason Ruhl • Michael Connors • Ricardo Vicente • Melissa Cooke Jose Ruiz • Galen • Mary Gibson-Cornell Schaubschlager • Tyler S. Green • Morgan SIms • Helen Hawley • Patrick Smyczek • John Hitchcock • Simone • Gabe Hoare Thornton • Drew Iwaniw • Michael • Raeleen Kao Weigman • Brittany Kieler • Jack Arthur Wood, Jr. • Greg Luckeroth Installation view of the exhibition at Portland ‘Pataphysical Society in 2016. • S.V. Medaris The show coincided with SGCI 2016: Flux in Portland, Oregon. > Brittany Kieler and AJ Nordhagen 45

MAPC: What keeps you coming back to printmaking?

ANSWER: Defying people who say, If there’s more than one of an artwork, then what’s at stake for the artist?

Multiplicity is awesome because it mobi- lizes ideas! We can see a global history of images because of printmaking, and that’s incredible to me because that’s also a history of human knowledge.

And then in a more contemporary sense, it’s such a thrill to see fresh, open minds experience the medium. The magic of that first edition, and the agony of it. I love that ANSWER: I am lucky to work as a profes- printmaking attracts people who are willing sional in the printcraft industry, so I am to go the extra mile. neck-deep in printmaking on a daily basis. I fell in love with it while in high school, SIGHTINGS is an illustrated collection of when I first encountered the hand printed images developed from eyewitness ac- record packaging and show posters of counts of unexplained beings. Thirty artists the DIY punk scene. I never really left that contribute personal or historically docu- world, and I deeply value the self-support- mented experiences with cryptids, ghosts, ing and democratic opportunities of print- extraterrestrials, and other mysterious enti- making just as much now as I did then. ties. It is presented in a box set of editioned fine art prints and includes a field guide The act of printing for me is like cleaning a with laser-etched cover. mirror… drifting between concentration on repetitive processes and zoning out on au- Honoring visual traditions across the globe topilot to moments of self reflection. I also that illuminate the human relationship with love that printmakers are a community, these entities, SIGHTINGS asks the viewer and that the people drawn to it are inter- to reconsider the breadth of science, con- ested in helping each other out with tips on SIGHTINGS is held in the tinually expanding our way of knowing the technique and esoteric recipes of chemical permanent collection of the world. witchcraft. International Cryptozoology — Brittany Kieler — AJ Nordhagen Museum in Portland, Maine. 46 INSTALLATION / PRINTSTALLATION > Emmy Bright and Hyeyoung Shin

Emmy Bright Dr. Ladybear Floating Office Ox-Bow School of Art and Artist Residency Summer Installation and Performance Photo by Raoul DeLaura 2015

The work by Emmy Bright, Dr. of an outsider within a relationship, Ladybear: Floating Officewas in- revels in a mashup of good inten- Dr. Ladybear is a psychic stalled and performed on a body of tions. Within most of Emmy’s work psychoanalyst. An inter- water. The difficulty of getting to Dr. there is a set of seemingly simple locuter of others’ ear- Ladybear’s office, the earnestness of relationships between the parts of nestness, she is a Doctor the offer to be an interlocutor for a the works. of Letters, a Masters of person’s real feelings, and the care for Feelings, with a Care for the world by the Doctor is situated on The realization of the complexity the World. She works with the surface of a lake on a calm day. presented within the work, as it does friends/clients to write seem that the work is simple, creates meaningful cards to loved This work interweaves psychology, an impression in our minds of the and difficult ones. The human relationships, and absurdity nature of all of our realities. Nothing shared words and feel- onto a floating world of impos- is as it seems. ings are precious jewel sible stability. The impossibility of treasures which she is the installation staying the same, of www.emmybright.com/home.html honored to have and to being counted upon for any kind of www.emmybright.com/section/408367-Dr-Lady- bear-Floating-Office.html hold. future support, and of the influence > Emmy Bright and Hyeyoung Shin 47

Weight of Being is an installation that is collaboratory with strangers who decide to have their feet cast by Hyeyoung.

This act by the artist of casting feet is humble; refers to being kind to strangers; refers to religious parables; and actuates the introduction of one stranger to another, allowing for conversation and a kind of intimate knowledge for a short period of time. The outcome of the repeated foot castings is the installed casts.

The installation reflects repeated and cyclical acts and offers a link to an act, and a memory device for each person. www.hyeyoung-shin.com/ www.hyeyoung-shin.com/weight-of-being.html

MAPC: Who is a printmaker who inspires your work (contemporary or historical)? What do you love about their imagery, content and/or process?

ANSWER: I was hugely inspired by German printmaker Kathe Kollwitz since an early age as I always have been in- trigued by human figure as a tool of language. Her print series ‘War,’ especially one of the work ‘The Mothers’ exception- ally moves me all the time as the loss of her son during World War I led her to a lifelong exploration of the subject of mourning, and for me, it reminded me of my mom whose heart also shattered when she lost her son.

I have always been fascinated by her humble and truthful carved lines that speak up about the horror and violence of war stronger than any colorful paintings.

Her art educates me to pay attention to the organic yet profound human emotion that we can only draw out from our true selves. Her depictions of universal human experiences given depth and emotional power through her dense networks of lines and light and dark contrasts touch Thirty-three sets of paper my heart. casts of individuals’ feet - Hyeyoung Shin and numerous photos of bottom feet figures. 48 PATTERNING > Laura Berman, Jean Gumpper and Lari Gibbons

Wonders, one of an ongoing series MAPC: What was your first of monoprints that Laura has been encounter with printmaking? working on and that is part of a larger What media/technique was it? investigation into color and shape How did you feel about it initially? inspired by things from the natural world. ANSWER: My first encounter with printmaking was in college (I attended Alfred Her patterning is not a reflection University). I was enamored with its magic of something that is regularized, but from the beginning, and I was advised by rather a pattern formed from the en- my professors to push the medium and ex- tirety of her oeuvre. periment with techniques. Two weeks into the semester, I kinda broke the press. The investigations into transparency, layering, and microscopic and macro- During my first monoprint session, I inked scopic views, are a relational conversa- a film reel and its tiny screws popped apart tion between all of the projects with when it went through the intaglio press. which Laura has been involved. There was a loud noise as the pressbed rolled through, and I was scared to lift the The pattern is in the consistent al- blankets to see what had happened. legiance to color, shapes, and putting what she discovers on paper. The tiny screws had punched a neat grid of four dots through all 3 brand new press And the pattern is revealed in the blankets, and indented the upper roller dedication with which she has contin- of the press. This happened during class, ued to deeply think through her set of which was eternally embarrassing for me. visual concerns. However, my teacher came right over, as- sessed the damage, groaned for a couple of minutes while I held my breath, and then looked at my work and encouraged me to keep going.

This was a lesson in technique of course, but the real lesson was what being part of a printmaking community is, and how to embrace and accept that mistakes happen.

For the entire year, we all had to place our printing plates avoid the damaged area of the printing blankets, otherwise we would end up with a small grid of 4 perfect blank dots on our prints, where the holes re- mained. (Post script: Monoprint is the printmaking technique I have most focused on in my career) — Laura Berman

http://www.laurabermanprojects.com/

Wonders: Sea 1 Monoprint, 20x20” Printed by the artist 17 plates, and 14 colors, printed in 6 layers. 2018 > Laura Berman, Jean Gumpper and Lari Gibbons 49

Jean’s woodcuts have an irregular Once, printing an opaque color on a Swedish Grass, Woodcut and pochoir, dense patterning that refer to the wet print stripped off ink and added an 20”x30” natural world, but have a rhythm in unwanted texture. I reacted through the 2015 the size of the elements, in the dis- tunnel vision of the illusive image of the persal of colors, value structure, and final result I had in my head. I only under- in the compositions of the prints that stood how much better the “mistake” vibrate. print was after it was too late to recreate the now desired effect. Another time, a MAPC: What was a discovery that color printed upside down in a reduction came out of a printmaking print edition caused me to develop a new mistake? registration procedure.

ANSWER: “Mistakes” seem to frequently That “mistake” print was then purchased nudge my printmaking practice. I have for a museum collection. Making prints many examples of when making “mis- for me is always the tussle between what takes” resulted in stronger work and is physically on the paper and my origi- when ignoring possibilities offered by nally imagined idea. “mistakes” resulted in the later under- — Jean Gumpper standing a print could have been more fully realized. https://www.jeangumpper.com/home 50 > Laura Berman, Jean Gumpper and Lari Gibbons

Gradient 16, Relief and monoprint, 20” x 15” 2017

The edition was completed for the Uncertainty Principle print portfolio exchange curated and organized by Lenore Thomas and Sean Morrissey.

Lari’s recent relief prints are rigorous- wants to organize the print into an ly rectangular and utilize only a range apprehensible pattern. A conflict of grays. The pattern is deceptive and between knowable and unknow- atmospheric. This dynamic of regularity able underpins this print; there is an combined with seemingly thick, humid uncertainty built within and between perspective creates an impression of a the geometric patterning and value constructed landscape. structure.

However, the uncertainty presented http://www.larigibbons.com/ by opposing visual constructs pres- http://www.larigibbons.com/portfolio/current- ents a conflict for the viewer, who work/ PERCEPTION/PERCEPTUAL 51 > Travis Janssen

CS-Q This new work by Travis is a continu- present in all aspects of our lives, and Cyanotype ation of his investigations into percep- the work allows us to review our own 24”x24” tion, and the apprehension of things perceptual apparatus. 2019 humans cannot see, but can feel that they know. The opposition of a mecha- MAPC: What keeps you coming nistic universe that can only be un- back to printmaking? derstood through humanities’ limited physical senses, with the universe of Ever since I was bitten by the print-bug, I’ve esoteric knowledge that humans do been captivated with the seemingly open- have access to is also present in this ended aspects of printmaking. There are new work. combinatorial approaches when you ask “What happens when I put this with that?” He begins by selecting a type speci- and unexpected results occur. Just the men and building an image through same, a more pointed “How can I achieve duplication and imposition. The man- this?” may come to the fore and engineer- dala like forms appear to be spinning ing takes the steering wheel. and moving back and forth in an in- determinate sky-like milky and atmo- And sometimes the simplicity of “What if it spheric space. These cyanotypes have is just this?” may be right for the idea. Print references to architecture and plans as a set of techniques, a conceptual frame- which lead us to believe that we can work, and an arena to compose/realize understand the physical space they images within, has me continually return- represent and exist within. ing to the table, wondering what happens if the spoon is placed on the left of the fork, However, the movement suggested if the plates are turned upside down, or if creates an impossible place for us the gravy boat is used as a hat. I will never to rest. The hypnotic and generative reach all possible outcomes or conclusions, object does not stop moving in our but the mysteries inherent to printmaking minds and resides within a thick atmo- keeps generating exciting questions. sphere, or a night-time sky, or outer — Travis Janssen space. The use of an oppositional idea is present within our minds as we http://www.travisjanssen.com/ perceive this work. Indeterminacy is 52 PERFORMANCE > Kate MacNeil and Jessica Caponigro

Vicious Cycle. Performance Vicious Cycle II Vicious Cycle I Documentation. Monotype. 48”x36” Monotype. 48”x36” Photo credit: 2018 2018 Julia Rose Sutherland. 2018.

In Vicious Cycle, Kate MacNeil per- ing the events of trauma to the out- forms the visualization of internal and comes of trauma. external traumatic experiences. Using the tools of printmaking, Kate transfers MAPC: What keeps you coming the impressions left on her body by back to printmaking? ink on a copper plate she deliberately smears onto her hands and arms, so ANSWER: Originally, I was drawn into that she can impress them onto a clean printmaking by the challenge: there were copper plate by viciously attacking it. so many processes and techniques to explore and I wanted to master them all. The structure of the video is shown There is something very liberating about on two side-by-side screens so that not being limited to a single end product there is a break between the ink being or mode of making. The multiplicity of picked up, and the damage inflicted printmaking allows room for mistakes - on the plate. lots of them - and out of those mistakes come some incredibly compelling ideas. The visual break and the variable action between the two screens allows That’s the case in any art form, but in print- the viewer to understand that there making when there are so many steps be- are connections, but that the connec- tween the idea and fruition, there’s more tions are not easy to declare as solid opportunity for those unintended results. truth. This dynamic is also what attracts me to performance. I can write the score, but I never The slipperiness of the presentation know what the variables are going to be. mirrors the fact that things happen; Much of my work is very ambitious; I have but direct proof of cause and effect, to be open to the possibility of failure every of memories failings, and of damages time I start a new print or performance or Full performance video unseen, highlights the real difficulties installation piece. But ultimately, that risk is can be found at: that exist in human lives. what keeps me coming back. — Kate MacNeil https://vimeo. The visual structure of the video com/264859084 underscores the lasting damage of http://www.knmacneil.com/ trauma, and the difficulty of connect- > Kate MacNeil and Jessica Caponigro 53

Jessica was active in W.I.T.C.H., a collective of activists who are resistance fighters, especially for women.

The Chicago chapter is no longer active, but the site lives on to connect people with their actions. Jessica is a performance artist, as well as engaging in critical writing.

MAPC: Who is a printmaker who inspires your work (contemporary or historical)? What do you love about their imagery, content and/ or process?

ANSWER: I’m forever indebted to the life and work of Corita Kent, who as a Roman Catholic religious sister, artist, and edu- cator, used printmaking as democratic outreach and a way to provide affordable art to the masses.

She created outwardly political art that W.I.T.C.H. Chicago Performance dealt with issues surrounding poverty, documentation with screen racism, injustice, and war, while always printed ephemera promoting love and tolerance of others. 2015.

She was wildly inclusive and anti-hierarchi- cal. Her unique and participatory teaching style attracted students from all over the country to take her classes at Immaculate Heart College.

After the cardinal archbishop of Los An- geles called Corita’s art sacrilegious, and threatened to close Immaculate Heart if they did not conform, Corita Kent returned to secular life.

Two years later, 90 percent of the Im- maculate Heart Sisters of Los Angeles sur- rendered their vows and reformed as the Immaculate Heart Community, unrestricted by patriarchal rules. — Jessica Caponigro http://www.jessicacaponigro.com/ http://www.jessicacaponigro.com/witch 54 PRACTICES WITHIN TRADITIONAL PRINTMAKING > Janet Ballweg and Edie Overturf

the two cups. This repetition, of all of the parts of the print, embeds the relational tensions, and creates a heightened framing for the frayed part of the ‘lace.’ Janet works in a variety of print processes and uses 3-D modeling to construct her versions of reality.

The transposition of the modelled ‘sets’ into the final prints creates a ro- mance with the viewer as they simultaneously understand the constructed nature of the space with the seeming reality of emotion being presented.

MAPC: What was your first encounter with printmaking? What media/technique was it? How did you feel about it initially?

ANSWER: My first encounter with printmaking was in my junior year at the UW-Madison. I was advised by a graduate student to try lithography because I loved to draw. My first impression was that the surface of the stone was warm, inviting, and so seductive.

And everything about the process was laborious – graining, processing, and printing. Yet, having grown up on a farm, the physicality of that work felt comfortable and relatable, even if I didn’t understand the chemistry or logic of the lithographic process at the time.

MAPC: What keeps you coming back to printmaking?

ANSWER: I keep coming back to printmaking because of the element of surprise - there’s a certain magic that happens when ink is transferred from the matrix to Frayed paper. I love considering the multitude of 5-color offset lithograph Janet Ballweg’s print shown above, 25x16.75” comes from the Veil series, a group variations that are possible due to layering 2012 prints that address expectations and and color opacity or transparency. Printed/published at the the tensions that arise between Guanlan Print Base in humans because of those Although it can be frustrating at times, I Guanlan, China expectations. This print, called Frayed, enjoy the problem-solving that comes with is constructed, like the others in this each print. It’s like a complex puzzle that group, of contrasted visual designs. needs to get sorted out, yet there are a The cups, a plain utilitarian object, million viable ways to solve it. are put into relation with the highly — Janet Ballweg patterned lace-like fabric. The conversation between the two aspects are https://janetballweg.com/home.html mirrored in the relationship between > Janet Ballweg and Edie Overturf 55

Washing That moment gives me butterflies in the Overturf often works in the narrative Reduction woodcut tradition in printmaking, and in this stomach (often excitement, but some- 12”X 18” case, I mean storytelling. times mixed with some anxiety), and it 2015 never fails to provide a moment of learn- Edie’s recent relief work examines ing. While working in drawing or painting I the lonely landscape of post-apoca- can see the development every step of the lyptic America. The precision wood- way. cuts are mixed with screen printing, creating a melancholic atmosphere Yet the pulling back of a proof or print is with silhouetted markers of current like turning a page in a well loved novel. I civilized human life. work best when there are steps of process, a pacing keeps me driven in my image MAPC: What keeps you coming making. The analytical nature of printmak- back to printmaking? ing processes combined with the creative motivations equal the perfect environment ANSWER: The “reveal” is one of the mo- for my studio practice. ments that keeps printmaking firmly fixed in my practice. No matter how comfort- — Edie Overturf able or confident I am with a process, the first pull is thrilling. https://edieoverturf.com/ 56 ENGAGEMENT WITH SCIENCE > Louise Fisher and Matthew Garcia

The framework of time infuses the direction Louise takes with each group of work. The images from the Lucid series mirrors the ‘un-hingedness’ of human life from the real workings of the universe. We are there, but we just don’t get it. Borrowing a look from Ed Ruscha, well-lit rooms are punched into the sun-setting skyscape. The ab- sence of the supporting architectural structure, yet obeying perspective, does not allow for an anchoring in our ‘real world.’

Louise Fisher says it best: “My work is grounded in the belief that all things are connected by pathways of time. I am captivated by time’s movement - from its cyclical nature to the layering of history. It is an energetic force that ties us all together. Waves of magnetism, sound and light flow 24/7 Interior #2 to all corners of the Universe, propelling Archival pigment print, woodcut on Awagami Kozo life into motion. Our bodies take in these 2019 frequencies through the senses, regulat- ing them through biological rhythms. In my work, I portray ideas of ephemerality, energetic transformation and life cycles using time-based mediums such as video and photography as well as the layering and repetitive action of printmaking. As an artist, I look to aspects of my own memory, experience and external environment to help restore balance in life’s journey”

MAPC: What keeps you coming back to printmaking?

24-7, detail ANSWER: I keep returning to printmaking because I can’t predict the final outcome. Every time I see a newly printed layer interact with the layer behind it, I always feel surprised and in awe of a magic trick. The processes we use mediate the mental vision we have, which makes the work more humbling, interesting and adventurous. It asks the artist to react to the material’s limits and characteristics. Printmakers gain intimate knowledge of which techniques give them the appropri- ate visual and emotional qualities. I also keep coming back to printmaking because my print family would never let me leave anyway (as if I ever would!) — Louise Fisher

http://www.louisefisherart.com/ 24-7, detail > Louise Fisher and Matthew Garcia 57

Matthews silkscreen prints present convoluted shapes that simultaneously refer to inside and outside.

Utilizing references to ‘warp’ speed movement in space and the dark, starlit sky captured within woven shapes printed with brilliant color, he presents the complexities of a human existence that cannot be untangled from its disparate parts, nor its loca- tion in the universe.

The shapes both sit apart from the unprinted background environment, and create the opportunity to travel deep into space.

MAPC: What keeps you coming back to printmaking?

ANSWER: I find myself drawn back to printmaking for many reasons; the love of the multiple, the meditative act of printing, the history of graphic design that is so rooted within print history. But most of all is how it impacts my work conceptually.

Printmaking, specifically screen printing, has become integral to the process of making these images, as I feel that I am literally compacting space and time.

Each layer of the print is a moment that I captured and each moment allows for these forms to come into existence.

In addition, the multiplicity of printmaking allows for the work to be more accessible as it is not limited to one iteration of its existence. — Matthew Garcia http://www.matthewwilliegarcia.com/

Superposition of a Queer Existence Screen Print on Yupo, 57”X32”, edition of 4 2018 58 SOCIAL PRACTICES > Breanne Trammell and Sukha Worob

Breanne is an interactivist using posters, other printed ephemera and social practice in order to lay bare our societal jerry-rigged structures. Say it with Poochie frames an overly saccha- rine vestige of a pop image of a girls place in American culture from the 80s with opposing text using over- size vinyl stickers. The use of stickers redesigned by Breanne surrepti- tiously brings us back to sweet little girls trying to conform and be sweet, but we are jolted into the reality of women’s place in the contemporary world through her text. The attempt to modify behaviour of females by well intentioned adults can still be monstrous.

Throughout Breanne’s practice, we are treated to the opportunities to learn new things, to be engaged in resistance, and are offered a place within which to practice a new found critical stance.

MAPC: Who is a printmaker who inspires your work (contemporary or historical)? What do you love about their imagery, content and/or process?

ANSWER: This can’t be answered in a sin- gular sort of way! I prefer to use “permission-giver” to describe artists whose work gives me permission to make mine—it’s a term that goes beyond saying someone is simply an inspiration or influence.

So I’ll use this space to highlight some of my favorite print-adjacent artists (but again this list is far from exhaustive): Adriane Herman, Corita Kent, Ree Morton, Ellen Gallagher, Rosemarie Trockel, Kate Binga- man-Burt, Amanda Curreri, Jessica Gatlin, Leah Mackin, Stephanie Syjuco, Kristina Paabus, Amy Cousins, Jessica Caponigro, Belkis Ayón, Nicole Killian, Bridget Riley, Kat Richards, J. Leigh Garcia, Nancy Palm- eri, and Gritty. — Breanne Trammell

Say It With Poochie Archival digital prints https://breanne.info/ on vinyl. Dimensions vary, https://breanne.info/Say-It-With-Poochie site-specific, 2018-ongoing. > Breanne Trammell and Sukha Worob 59

Sukha engages in collaborative/ social practice installation, among his other practices.

Follow me is one of several project Sukha has designed using the tools of printmaking to create an opportunity for absolutely anyone to engage in a collaborative print and installation.

Not only can this be created over a long period of time, it honors that time.

One does not have to have any formal training in art, yet one is immediately and immensely successful in the making of the art.

These collaborations create owner- ship of and respect for the value and practice of art. http://www.sukhaworob.com/ http://www.sukhaworob.com/follow-me 60 TEXT/BOOKS/GRAPHIC NOVELS > Briar Craig, Cynthia Brinich-Langlois and Trishelle Jeffrey

Briar’s Chalkboard Prints, a series printed as serigraphs using an ultra-violet ink. The prints have a poetical and polemical nature. Using the illusion of and allusion to a chalkboard, his white text on black has a palimpsest of erasures and overwriting.

The stridency of the polemic is soft- ened by the poetical compositions and by the softening gray of erasure and crossing out of some of the text with chalk lines. The use of black and white is utilized as a study of values, both in the compositional sense, and in the either/or political stance.

The poetical aspects uses the indi- rection of the softening grays, and the polemical aspects desiring to assert a clear argument.

This series of prints uses text as a method of addressing the current political environment and its miasma of fear mongering, tension, and stridency.

Briar’s palimpsest is used as a way to situate the ideas in a history that keeps re-revealing itself because it can never be entirely erased.

https://www.briarcraig.com/

POST TRUTH Hand pulled ultra-violet screen print. 28.5X42.5” 2017 > Briar Craig, Cynthia Brinich-Langlois and Trishelle Jeffrey 61

Cynthia’s Books of Hours revisits the I remember being terrified of cutting myself, historical ideas that surround a Book and struggling to achieve smooth curves. of Hours. While I managed to survive the carving unscathed, the blade did slip a few times, She made observational drawings leaving some stray marks on the block. that are transformed into a cyanotype scroll book. The ‘hours’ in both books Even so, my almost-nine-year-old self was structure a day. quite satisfied with the results, and I still have a copy of the castle-shaped catalog. One through the lens of Christian — Cynthia Brinich-Langlois personal practice, and often glorified by immense cost in the manufacture http://cynthiabrinichlanglois.com/ of it and sheer beauty, and the other through the lens of closely observed natural life through the course of a day.

Cynthia’s Books of Hours is a personal contrast of both external and physical marks of a day, but also a mark of internal reflection to the stimuli. These books are intersectional between social and geologic observational practice.

MAPC: What was your first encounter with printmaking? What media/technique was it? How did you feel about it initially?

ANSWER: I created my first linocut print, a cougar stretched into a large letter “C” in a class at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art in the summer of 1991. The prints were published in a museum catalog for an exhibition of medieval arts and crafts.

I printed my “C” in a bright pink-to-purple blend roll; it forms the initial at the beginning of the phrase “Castles were big and cold . . .” 62 > Briar Craig, Cynthia Brinich-Langlois and Trishelle Jeffrey

An MFA is Still Just an Art Degree Screenprint on handmade paper with $1.00 Laminated inside, 10x10” Print made for the Frogman’s Assistants Exchange. 2018

Trishelle’s prints offer the visual behind my classmates, not having taken markings of a graphic novel, often any art classes yet. I knew I wanted to make with narrative content within the con- comics, but anything beyond that was new, text of a single print, but also in chap- exciting, and felt out of reach on my own. books. The content of some of the narratives utilize current life and how I did my first three years of school at Snow political agendas are affective and dif- College in Ephraim, Utah. My sister recom- ficult. Other narratives are very per- mended Adam Larsen as a teacher after sonal, yet engaging and illuminative taking drawing from him. I took every class of a life lived. With a cohesive visual I could from Adam, soaking up what he printmakerly style, Trishelle expresses taught like a sponge. the grief and abject humor of our age with clear imagery. Adam teaches printmaking, and the first time I saw a print pulled it was a relief MAPC: What was your first en- print of his. He was printing by hand with counter with printmaking? What a barren instead of a press, holding each media/technique was it? How did matrix in place with a mat board window you feel about it initially? for registration. I remember that final pull, the reveal, was magic.It’s still magic, even a decade later. ANSWER: I didn’t know what printmaking — Trishelle Jeffrey was until I was an art student in college. Of course, this is the usual story for print- http://trishellejeffery.com/ makers, but I had this feeling that I was VIDEO/ANIMATION 63 > Heather Parrish and Nathan Meltz

Heather’s video installations are the installation deflect graspability. Cradle Woven waxed paper, often difficult to get an exact visual The viewer feels the movements, but video projection, string and physical fix upon. doesn’t know how they have come 2013 to be, and the movement is unceas- She writes about her work - “With a ing. Both soothing and unsettling, heightened sensitivity to ‘self and surround- the ceaselessness mirrors a conflict in ing’ arising from my own transient child- each human beings’ search for a know- hood, I am fascinated by how we negotiate able, dependable space in reality. issues surrounding inhabitation. Rather than firm and fixed, I explore boundaries The woven wax paper is a surpris- as fluid composites of interior and exterior ing construct as it shows its regular- fluctuations, layers of intertwined material- ity, each square is that same size as ity and perception, rationality and emotion, all of the rest. Yet, when the video is complicated by the effects of time, and projected on the regular pattern, it our tendency to conflate, and attempts to appears as if the grid pattern is made separate, past from present.” of light, and not a fixed demarca- tion. Reflective of Heather’s aim, this In Cradle, by utilizing woven sheets installation engenders contemplation of waxed paper, Heather drapes and on non-fixedness. hangs those sheets to capture video she has woven together. By projecting https://heatherparrish.net/home.html onto sheets that both reflect the video https://heatherparrish.net/section/374892-Cradle. and allow the video to pass through, html the sensations of the movement in

Cradle DetailWaxed Paper, Video, String 2013 64 > Heather Parrish and Nathan Meltz

Nathan’s videos present a dystopian vision of our current political and capi- talist primary drives and the horror it produces. Human life and culture are fragmented, cobbled together in nightmarish ways, and set to a score in Nathan’s animations. Ambitious and yet curiously moved along by a pop culture sensibility and soundtrack, these animations both amuse and chill. He has a very wide-ranging practice that circles around important human concerns.

MAPC: What keeps you coming back to printmaking?

ANSWER: As an artist who works in a lot of media (animation, performance, sculpture, collage), printmaking has been the tie that binds everything together, which is the reason I keep coming back to it. I love the versatility of printmaking, whether I’m making punk zines or more framed, formal editioned prints. And I love how printmaking spans different centuries in terms of technology: an artist can use a 21st century laser to engrave a plate printed in a 15th century intaglio process! And right when I think some print element is feeling played out, someone expands the medium. Take screenprinting, for instance. There are people like Justin Diggle using lasers to etch an image out of layers of screenprint ink, and Jeffrey Dell doing cool analog processes to expand what we expect from the visuals of screenprinting. Every time I think I know what I’m doing, someone comes along and reminds me how much more there is out there to learn! — Nathan Meltz Machine Breaker Screenprint 15”x22” https://nathanmeltz.com/home.html 2017

BEST PRACTICES As I responded to the work and the artists While doing all of the research for this ar- in our directory, I went to each website link ticle, I had to come first to the membership provided by the artist. The website access directory. The directory is a wonderful place has proven to be invaluable to me for this to begin to research a curatorial project. writing. There, I noticed how important it From this research I came to realize how is to make a clear and inviting website. Not important a resource our directory is as a only should it be designed attractively and reflection of our active membership. Many of easily navigated, but it must include a biog- the printmakers in our membership have not raphy and statements about each body of taken advantage of this resource and I hope work. The statements were very important an article like this one will spur artists to for me to come to an understanding about keep themselves in an advantageous posi- the underlying ideas and the influences in tion by keeping this resource fresh. each body of work. 65

Making zines with Nick Satinover and Ry McCullough at MAPC MAPC MAKING 2018 in Wyoming Connections

My name is Dayon Royster and I’m an and has extended my support system within emerging artist obtaining my MFA in printmak- the print community. I’ve also been able to add ing from the University of Iowa. One of my fav new techniques and tools to my studio practice connections I’ve made was with the students of after going to an exhibit “Cyber Squatting in Northern Illinois University (NIU) during MAPC the Free World” put on by my current studio in Laramie Wyoming. mate Jake Lee’s undergrad professors, Jonathan McFadden and David Wischer. I’d already known one of NIU’s students Will Kurucz from undergrad at East Carolina They implemented the use of large scale University (ECU), but was able to connect banners that they had digitally printed. The use with some of his studio mates from NIU during of banners or “tarps” as I like to call them have MAPCs bowling night. Bowling at MAPC for me become a huge addition to my current body of has always been a fun way to network and meet work since then. Seeing Jonathan and David’s new colleagues while enjoying some healthy use of digital printing has completely changed competition. my outlook on digital printing and the ways it can be used to convey a message. The networking I’ve been able to do at MAPC has lead to possible exchanges, group shows DAYON ROYSTER 66

larger historical context.

The demonstrations covered a range of processes, media and materials that provided information for younger and more seasoned artists. And interactive sessions engaged participants directly in workshops as well as in sessions that increased our awareness of the language we use in our interactions as we speak about art and artists. As always, the best part of any MAPC conference is the people. I enjoyed getting to see our scattered community come together in Laramie. Conferences are a chance for me to see old friends, people I consider colleagues, and meet new artists. As the host, the interactions were sometimes a little fleeting, but it sure was wonderful to share “my place” with others. By having the conference on the western edge, a number of Wyoming artists and educators and artists in the intermountain West were able to attend the conference more easily. For many it was their first MAPC conference.

I enjoyed many moments of the conference. Looking down at the crowded Open Portfolio Sessions was impressive (you were all really here!) and seeing the Zine sessions making art in the lobby was wonderful and genuine. Our nation’s present was shaped by its However, the “Further West” extended confer- history. Like the geology of Wyoming our ence was certainly important for me. It brought past in the West is right on the surface. Here, the MAPC and Rocky Mountain Print Alliance intersectional conversations are inevitable. together. It was like having a reunion with How do you discuss land, water and ecology two sides of a family. We went to the Snowy issues without encountering Native American Mountains in the Medicine Bow National Forest land and civil rights conversations? You can’t. and then spent the rest of the day at the Vee What is our role as artists in witnessing climate Bar guest ranch. The RMPA members provided change and shaping our communities? These programming for the day. It included a fine ex- are not always easy conversations. I love hibition in cabin #3 and a game-show panel pre- MAPC. We are able to have a conference with sentation with a hayride between. I was grateful content substance, demonstrate how to wipe a for a sunny early October morning with yellow plate, and still have room for some dancing and cottonwoods and blue skies. The next day it beverages together. snowed. Perfect timing.

MAPC 2018 in Laramie, Wyoming included For the 400 plus people who attended this exhibitions from a variety of viewpoints that conference - Thank you for making a great con- explored collaboration, cooperation, and ference happen. To the many more whose work community. They were in the UW Art Museum, was present at the conference - Thank you for Visual Arts Building, outdoors in spaces sharing your art. Thank you to the MAPC board, between and in downtown informal venues Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund and especially, and all but two of the exhibitions, two at the thank you to the crew of Wyoming students museum and the MAPC Member’s Exhibition, who participated in hosting the conference and were organized by MAPC members from across supported me as I stumbled along. I loved having the US and abroad. Literally hundreds of boxes everyone here, but I have to confess that I look arrived for the conference. forward to attending the Kent State conference and really getting to interact with everyone. It was a delight to have Cole Rogers and Karla McGrath from High Point Center for the See you in Ohio. Print recognized as the 2018 MAPC Outstanding Printmakers. They certainly speak to community MARK RITCHIE and cooperation. Writer and social observer, PROFESSOR. UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING Samuel Western, placed our discussion within a DEPARTMENT OF ART & ART HISTORY 67

I attended MAPC in fall of 2018 in Laramie, Wyoming. It was the first conference that I have ever attended, and on top of that, I was the intern for Mark Ritchie, who was hosting the conference. He gave me the title of Assistant Coordinator, meaning I helped get everything ready for people to come and enjoy the conference. Since it was my first conference, it was hard for me to picture how things would go while preparing. I was really nervous that I wasn’t doing my best, considering my lack of conference experience, but once the conference started rolling there was no turning back.

During the conference, I did a lot of running around and filling in gaps that needed to be filled. One of my main jobs was making sure “I remember feeling very proud of you and Abigail Schnieder, Jandey people could get to Laramie from Denver the others for making the tremendous effort to Shackelford, and Peytin International Airport, and around Laramie once get the organization off the ground and host Fitzgerald celebrate at they got here. We had some shuttle services the first conference. I remember also feeling MAPC 2018 in Laramie that we provided to and from the conference, excited that this organization had its roots in and then also to downtown during the gallery the middle, that it claimed this region and called walks. Through the shuttles, I was able to meet to those living here to get involved. so many people. This region that had been my home for all One of the most important people that I met my life, and at the time I was living in Minne- was Sarah Smelser and the graduate students apolis, was deserving of such an organization from Illinois State University (ISU). Originally, my and could foster a sense of belonging unto plan was to go to Japan in the fall of 2019, but itself. Living in a run-down apartment above a after I spoke with Sarah and her students about hardware store in South Minneapolis, I was just the graduate program at ISU, I was pulled in to scraping by off a sad salary from MCAD. At the the idea of graduate school. I never thought I time, and it is still so, these conferences gave would be going to graduate school a year after me a connectedness to peers in my region and graduating with my Bachelors in Fine Arts, but overtime helped me build a network of support. it just seemed like the best option after making so many great connections. Before I head off I eagerly and anxiously applied to present to ISU, I will also be attending a workshop at a demonstration on some funky techniques Frogman’s Press in Omaha, Nebraska through that my friend Craig Dongoski and I had been Jeremy Menard. He is someone that I also met messing with, these techniques that brought at MAPC. Overall, MAPC changed my life all emerging digital technologies together with through connections. Without Mark Ritchie traditional print techniques seemed so urgent giving me this opportunity to be apart of the and exciting at the time. Our demonstration was construction of this conference, I think my life accepted. I remember puking in the bathroom would have gone in a completely direction. before our presentation because I was so nervous. (P.S. I still plan to go to Japan in the future because who wouldn’t.) If Craig was nervous too, you couldn’t tell and we went on and shared everything we had, PEYTIN FITZGERALD and people liked it and asked lots of questions. GILLETTE, WYOMING— A COAL TOWN IN NORTH- I was all of 20something at the time and that EASTERN WYOMING. little demo presentation gave me a great deal of confidence to do it again. And I learned that I did not need to be the ‘expert’ I just needed to be willing to share.”

MICHAEL J. KRUEGER ARTIST, A FATHER, AND A FRIEND, A LOVE LIBRARIAN, A TAMARIND ARTIST AND AN HON- ORARY RESIDENT DROPPER. HE ALSO TEACHES DRAWING AND PRINTMAKING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS IN LOVELY LAWRENCE, KS. 68

MAPC is an organic experience. I’ve been track, sabbatical replacement), additional jobs, attending our conferences since 2008, and I and the world. We shared stories and strate- tend not to remember them as discrete entities. gies, frustrations, and hopes and concerns for I experience them more as continuations - of our futures. Intergenerational community is community, learning, connecting, laughing. I essential, and I intensely value my print friends remember people and distinct moments, prints and colleagues across the generations. and images, conversations and shared meals, spaces and studios and feelings - and most As a millennial woman today, I’ve found of all, the feeling of being at once wrapped checking in among our own generation is and buoyed by inclusive community. First, we equally essential - comparing our similar experi- connect. Over time, we reconnect and continue ences, sharing advice and support, and remem- building our relationships and our community. bering we’re in this together.

This past October, through a chance LENA B. ELLIS-BOATMAN encounter outside the conference hotel in LIVES IN MICHIGAN, WHERE SHE WORKS FOR A Laramie, I fell in with a group of three other NONPROFIT AND IS FINISHING HER FOURTH YEAR millennial women printmakers, each of us trying AS A PART-TIME, ADJUNCT ASSISTANT to make our way in academia (adjunct, tenure PROFESSOR.

During the junior year of my undergraduate young printmakers at the conference. One of program at Indiana University Southeast we had our guests was the President of MAPC at the the awesome opportunity to host the MAPC time, Nancy Palmeri. Conference in 2016. As printmaking students, we had important roles in the planning and Nancy, as many of you know is an amazing execution of the conference such as assisting artist, advocate for students and artists and has artists with their demos and panels and, also, held many vital roles and positions in the Print- planning exhibitions. making community.

We successfully planned and executed a Meeting Nancy at the MAPC 2016 conference small “Welcome Party” with an exhibition of all changed my life tremendously. She is the MFA of our recent works at a local brewery, inviting Director, Associate Chairperson, Studio Area all MAPC Members to come celebrate and Head of Printmaking and my very close graduate network. mentor at the University of Texas, Arlington.

For many of us, myself included, these were I would have never have guessed shyly our first experiences contacting, engaging with exchanging business cards with her would lead and showing our personal work to other artists, me to move to Texas for Graduate school, and many of which we had been learning about all of the other amazing opportunities I have from our professor, Susanna Crum. been presented with since such as volunteering at SGCI 2019 and working as one of the Student The Welcome Party was a great networking Member at Large for the MAPC board. event and gave us all the confidence to work through our nerves to accomplish big things as KACEY SLONE

At MAPC’s Print Matters : Printing Matters, This was a monumental concept for me, as 2016, I attended a panel talk in which each it helped me to realize that our work as artists artist first gave a presentation about their work, are so much more than the art works we make followed by questions from the audience. - it includes the communities we co-create and grow with. One of the speakers included the activity of setting up a printshop as part of her JAZ GRAF portfolio. PRINT, PAPER AND BOOK ARTIST. 69

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