Second Semester

In my second semester, I took lithography again, to be able to learn how to use a stone for the process. Along with lithography I took a class in polymer plate printing and a critique class. In the polymer plate class, I had my first introduction make a book as a piece of art and I really liked that direction. Below are some images from that semester.

Desert Junker

This was my first jump back into lithography.

Landscapes

This is my first attempt at a lithograph on stone. You use a specific kind of Bavarian limestone to be able to print this way. Having never used one before I just made a series of 2 in by 4 in drawings to try out different marks.

DC Blood

First time I played with polymer plates and the reversal capabilities. Polymer plates are a plate made of a plastic material that is soluble in warm water, but hardens with exposure to light. By creating films and exposing the plate you can create relief and intaglio plates. This image is two relief plates, but the same image, just one film was positive and the other negative.

Capital Importance Cover

Title Page

Sample Page

Sample Page Detail

 These images are of the Japanese side stitch book I made. It's called "Capital Importance" and it contains 50 images, all polymer plate with 2 pages of handset type. The images are line maps of the state capitals at the size they are represented in an atlas. Questioning the importance of different capitals based on their depiction.

First Semester

My first semester of graduate school, I took things slow. Something I somewhat regret now but in other ways am glad I did. I took an art history course, a teaching course and Photogravure. Photogravure was a great class to start graduate school off in. An amazing printmaking process but exposes you to the ideas of photography, like shooting multiple images and then editing down to get the final set. It uses black and white film to shot images so that they can be etched onto copper plates. Below is a set of three images I created for the end of the class. These images, like my others, relate to the land and our relationship with it. More specifically how I related to the beauty of death in the desert as it pertains to the foliage found out there. Macro images of fallen trees, cacti and shrubbery and the beauty in the line work that is created from the water being drained from the plants.

Photogravure Suite #1

Photogravure Suite #2

Photogravure Suite #3

Undergraduate work

So this are just some images from the beginnings of my print career and my focus on the human relationship with our surround landscape. These images are of my thesis set of work. They are all 5 layer lithographs based off of landscape photographs that I took. I look back on this series now and see all the ways that they could be improved and understand how much I have learned in the past 3 and a half years.

Nature Mapping #1

 

 

Nature Mapping #2

Nature Mapping #3

Nature Mapping #4

Nature Mapping #5

Nature Mapping #6

Starting from Scratch

I have tried this kind of thing before. but I'm going to give it another shot. Currently, I am in my third year of graduate school at ASU for a Masters of Fine Arts in Printmaking. I work mainly in the areas of digital and digitally enhanced printmaking. By digitally enhanced, I mean any process where by at least on step of part was created digitally. My main focuses in that area are laser cut wood relief, polymer plate (or solarplates), and screen printing.
My work has been exploring the ideas of how humans use our natural surroundings, how we view them and what we intend for them. While there are some of us who feel we need to protect more land from destruction and construction, a vast majority of the population are addicted to the idea of manifest destiny like a drug. The need for the American Dream and the white picket fence that comes with it has driven us to spread over the countryside without a thought. My work attempts to critique this thinking and cause the viewer to reconsider their place in life and their personal relationship with the land. I will start with some images from the past and then start adding in work from the present as I go.

Lets see if I can make this happen.
Best