Megan Bobbio

 

PORTFOLIO 2

Immutable Infrastructure

For this body of work I was interested in how the landscape changes around architecture or a monument like that of a bridge, and how it seems indelible. In order to accomplish this I used a monotype as the background representing a certain time of day, or certain time of year, that only exists in one moment. In that way it captures the nature of monotype printing; In that, no two skies are exactly the same. Using similar techniques I’ve discovered in the previous assignment, I incorporated the use of the whole page and more color mixing in the composition. The next layer is done through screenprinting, and the shape of the bridge to frame the landscape and provide context for the viewer, transforming the abstract landscape to something recognizable. In addition to experimenting with the forms of the bridge, and the monotype of what came in mind when i thought of traffic in 4 separate prints as well.

 

PORTFOLIO 1

Planetarium

In this series of prints, I was interested in the style of silhouettes and their interaction with the astronomical landscape of the background–as well as the juxtaposition in the simple foreground versus complex backdrop. I wanted to accomplish that through the use of varied textures within the circular shape of the plate, using different techniques in the application of ink. I did not have a plan as far as how the textures go, I just wanted to have fun, and to create a interesting looking texture to make it strong within the space of the paper, and to hold the atmosphere or terrain with a resemblance of an imaginary planet. I like illustration and portraiture quite a lot so i wanted to experiment with that more in screenprinting, and step out of my comfort zone by creating a somewhat abstract layer to the piece by using monotype.

Desiree Foureau

Portfolio 1

I am creating portraits which emphasize and celebrate ethnic hair texture and identity. I have created several screen prints using multiple stencils in which I use to layer images. The first stencil is a portrait in which the facial features are simplified. The second and third stencil are made as additions to the hair portion of the portrait. Each stencil layers continuous lines and plays with thickness. The lines are used to fill out the hair, and also to send a message. The words ‘defy’ and “gravity” is incorporated in many of the lines. I experimented with different color options and combinations of ink and paper.

I chose this subject because hair is closely tied into my history, culture, and identity. Western beauty standards have pressured ethnic communities to confront, to change, and to feel that the way in which their hair grows naturally out of their heads inappropriate and unattractive. I have had my own struggles in understanding and accepting my own hair texture. A common way of thinking in my own community is that having “good hair” meant that your hair was long, sleek, and straight. It is normal for ethnic women to alter their hair from a young age with chemicals that can leave painful burns in the scalp. These standards were developed in times of oppression and have continue to trickle down within the community. It is beyond the subject of hair, but the root of it all in which says that we are not enough. The features that make us who we are, are not included in western societies’ definition of beauty, despite the diverse people and features that make it up.

I think now we live in a time that is shifting its way we define “good” hair. More ethnic women are learning to embrace the texture of their hair. i want to continue to empower women and add images that represent the variety in beauty often excluded from western culture and media. In my work the words “defy” and “gravity” are used to send a message of pride oneself and the hair that grows from your head.

 

Portfolio 2

In these works, I am using monotype to explore forms found in nature and the ways in which we understand and perceive those forms.

In some works, I captured natural forms by printing selected plants and flowers directly to paper. Using oil-based inks, I rolled two separate plates with pigment, each a different color. The leaves and flowers were placed onto the inked plate and printed through a press. The first print left only the negative space from the flowers and was completely covered with a single color. Before removing the single print completely I replaced the plate with the other inked plate. The flowers were then rearranged to create an overlap between the two images. The paper was carefully realigned and rolled again through the press. The resulting print allowed a layering of color, both in the background areas in which one color was printed in top of the other and in the areas, which the flowers were laid.
With the remaining plate, a ghost print was made. I peeled off the remaining flowers and leaves which left details not seen in the original prints. I repeated this process experimenting with different flower arrangements and color relationships.

I continued my work by using some of the shapes associated with nature to create abstracted floral paintings. Using rolled ink and my fingers directly with the ink I created floral patterns, which I then printed through the press. After allowing the ink to dry, I used some leaves, which I inked and stamped onto the image. The resulting image was a combination of flower abstraction and natural existing shape. I repeated this process further abstracting and leaving some prints to experiment only with color and texture.

With this work, I wanted to not only explore color and color relationships but natural forms and the ways in which we process information about the world around us. What shapes make us understand this image as a flower? Is it reliant purely on shape or color? Is it a combination of the two? By using existing shape in nature, printing flowers directly to paper but layered in unusual color, do we still understand it as a floral arrangement. The same with arbitrary marks made; what about those marks trigger those associations?

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Shotaro Yagura

Untitled 1, 2017, Screen printing, 15″ x 22″

Untitled 2, 2017, Screen Printing, Ink, 15″x 22″

Untitled 3, 2017, Screen Printing, 22″x15″

 

Untiled 4, Screen Printing, 15’x22″

Untitled 5, 2017, Screen Printing, 15″x22″

Untitled 6, 2017, Screen Printing, Ink, 15’x22″

Untitled 7, 2017, Stamp, Clay, Glue, 15″x22″

Last summer, I fell down while I was riding a skateboard. Instantly, I felt something different on my arm. So my friend took me to ER to check it up. A doctor told me my elbow were broken. Moreover, I needed to take surgery to insert metal plates in my elbow. It was not difficult one so was ok. But, I did not expect breaking a joint was so annoying. I went to physical therapy for 6 months. Even after that, my arm is not same as before. Still, it is not straight completely and sometimes the scars from the surgery bothers me. But I feel it is getting little by little, hopefully.

So on my works, I wanted to focus on how complicated and vulnerable human body is and my feeling while I was taking physical therapy and also when I found out that I needed to take surgery.

The figures that I drew are representations of cells. The color of choices are representations of blood and my feeling, especially my anxiety. Also, most of background are white. It shows emptiness of my feeling during the treatment. Because I had to rely on someone because of just for one arm. And on one work, I used random brush strokes. It is a representation of my frustration under the treatment.

Nicole Ortiz

Portfolio 1

 

Portfolio 2

 

Nicole image list

Sari Alexis Levy

Portfolio 1

For Portfolio II, I sought to continue my experimental investigation into the kinetic, Op Art, and aesthetic qualities of moiré interference patterns composed of hand-drawn, abstracted barcodes and push the concept further by setting these symbols of rampant capitalism, consumerism, and materialism against stark backdrops formed through the marks and textural impressions of the packaging debris that are the so-called “waste products” resulting from these aforementioned systems.
This series includes two sets of prints, the first consist of a pair of unique marbled monotypes created through the additive stamping of key black ink onto the surface of the horizontally configured, rectangular plate using plastic shopping bags before covering with damp white paper and passing through the press. The other pair serves as a more direct and immediate extension of Portfolio I. The background for the latter was created by trimming a roll of corrugated cardboard – another industrial packaging material – down to the size of the monotype plate for consistency; passing it through the press at increasing increments of pressure to flatten out; and coating the box cutout with a sealant on both sides transforming it into a reusable relief monotype printing plate which was subsequently coated with key black ink using a brayer; covered with damp white paper and two thick blankets; and printed producing a debossed, linear pattern. The next step was to appropriate, crop, and trace ordinary barcodes by hand into the geometric shapes of squares and circles using soft, opaque pencils to create the stencils that would be used to expose the silkscreen. These patterns were printed on a clear, glossy, wet media polyester film using semi-transparent acrylic inks in the three remaining process hues from the CMYK subtractive, four-color model typically associated with printing and packaging. The individual serigraph patterns – one in each color – were then trimmed, rotated, and configured into diagonally ascending and horizontal compositions by increasing and decreasing color value with only two pieces overlapping at any given time giving way to color mixing effects in a sequence of vibrating and disorienting intersecting planes.
Through this dynamic work I hope to explore and question the alleged dichotomy between human and technological machine, as well as the string of “errors” intrinsically associated with perception as manifested through optical illusions and moiré phenomena, and the seemingly undesirable side effects of conspicuous consumption. In the future, I would like to continue this project by honing in on specific typologies; mastering elements of color theory and mixing; and utilizing and experimenting with different and more solid materials that would allow me to further the elements of light and shadow, height, depth, and perspective; and possibly achieve a floating sensation through the testing of various installation techniques.

 

Portfolio 1

Having maintained a persistent and unwavering fascination with physics and optics, Portfolio I serves as an accelerated, albeit incredibly preliminary, proof of concept at the culmination of several years of rumination regarding how to artistically approach the subject matter of moiré – an interference phenomenon resulting from overlaying similar and slightly offset patterns. The project that has developed is one that will hopefully give rise to a long-term, systematic and process-oriented investigation rooted in serigraphy. In the scope of this inaugural series, I sought to address the aesthetically pleasing qualities inherent to these seemingly undesirable byproducts and artifacts of both digital and print imagery head-on, going out of the way to deliberately create that which would typically be deemed a glitch. In an era utterly inundated with technology and overly filtered images, this body of silkscreen prints attempts to expose, highlight, and accentuate a hierarchy of fallibilities and accidents inevitably at play. The prospective “mistakes” of interest are threefold: first, the intrinsically problematic nature and presence of moiré fringes themselves; second, the fact that optical illusions arise as a result of the eyes deceiving and misleading the brain; third, intentionally inserting and exercising the hand of the artist back into the work, a phenomenon frequently lost and taken for granted in a machine and technology-driven world.
The painstaking process entailed appropriating, cropping, and editing a trinity of black-and-white barcode symbols. This ubiquitous system of identification is iconic and deeply entrenched in the visual lexicon of a society characterized by systems of capitalism, consumerism, materialism, and, by extension, waste whereby even the objects in one’s trash are that with which he or she associates, defines, and identifies him or herself. For the purposes of this collection, I aimed to deviate from the seemingly random, impersonal, and impeccable, series of lines traditionally employed by artists in the realm of Op Art and the like, instead selecting these optical, machine-readable, representations of data to serve as the base pattern to undergo subsequent manipulation. The production of these silkscreen prints continued with the intricate hand copying of these individual marks through the use of various opaque painting and drawing implements on tracing paper leading to the “imperfect” transparencies that were used to expose the stencils. In the printing of the final works, I strove to imbue the stereotypically mechanical with a characteristically human element, preserving a level of genuine authenticity by electing to leave the pinholes in the emulsion rather than touching them up and opting to showcase and acknowledge the faults innate to the learning curve of the craft (such as subtle differences in registration and ink flooding and distribution) which is likely augmented when practiced by hand rather than with the aid of an automated press. The viewer is ultimately forced to acknowledge the nuanced deviations that riddle these superficially identical end results. Interested in the stark contrast made possible within the misleadingly simple monochromatic spectrum, my goal was to carry out a color study by adding a large quantity of transparent base to the black acrylic printing ink that produced a grainy quality reminiscent of newsprint. As a first step towards a long-term, large-scale color theory founded approach; I superimposed the three modified barcodes one at a time in a diagonally descending, repetitive pattern making sure that only two overlapped with each other at any given time. The composition arising from these simultaneous horizontal and vertical shifts is one which, although static and 2-D, can be perceived as dynamic and kinetic – a rhythmic intersection of planes and activation of space that offers a vibrating and activating sense of depth and motion.
For these twelve prints, I carried out a variety of different tests focused primarily on the borders: the first five feature a series of thin, graphite and ink, asymmetrical grids whose deviations, slips, and erasure marks are underscored when displayed in multiples; two other pairs seek to not only illustrate the effects of varying the width of framing, but also, highlight the rough trimmed edges of the paper in both matte black and metallic silver; one print incorporates a touch of the RGB additive color model while another the CMYK reductive; and one more juxtaposes two tones which recall middle grey. Contrary to the center sequence, these peripheral experiments all utilize opaque, unadulterated, commercial ink, coming directly from the container, the material was also applied with a paint brush as opposed to the conventional squeegee tool, and served as a very initial attempt at applying tape guides as evidenced through bleeds.
As far as future experiments, I hope to consider elements of scale; background material (possibly that of which is suitably rooted in packaging); paper color, toning, and pulp; ink mixing and color theory exercises; other types of printmaking such as monotype; as well as elements of sculpture and alternative process photography. Overall, this concept lends itself to a seemingly endless sequence of iterations, potentially veering into QR and RFID as well, and the creation of typologies for a wide array of different aspects and areas of life such as detritus; recipes; rooms and spaces with distinct purposes and objects (e.g. kitchen, pantry, bathroom, office, etc.), so on and so forth.

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Lindsey Gamble

Portfolio I

In this portfolio I have been working with both monotypes and screen printing. This series has been all about experimentation and the learning process for me. Finding out what does and doesn’t work with the various methods, as well as just familiarizing myself with the different processes. Since I generally work with more organic, floral, and botanical themes in other materials, I chose to primarily continue with this here.

With the monotypes that utilized the press, I wanted to see how detailed I could get by hand painting ink directly onto the plate. For the first, I created the floral pattern, and then continued to paint in the black all the way around the images. This made the flowers appear to be more of a negative image, and made it more interesting to me while working in black and white. While printing though, I did learn that I’d used too much oil to thin the ink in places, and so had more bleed than anticipated leaving me with less defined florals than I’d hoped. In the second monotype, I again painted a floral pattern- this time a wreath. I learned from the first monotype, however, and was able to create a more detailed piece that bled less. This, too, was a process in discovery, as I saw immediately after that this design would be better translated into a screen print for what I ultimately have in mind.

The third monotype was made with watercolor and a hand-carved stamp. I’ve been interested for some time in trying to carve my own stamps. Inspired by Moroccan tile patterns, and the idea of repetition to create larger patterned areas, I created a small square stamp. The paper was painted with a few washes of watercolor, then I layered on the stamp in various areas. This was a great learning process for me in both the carving of the stamp itself, the placement of a stamp on the paper, and to the application of ink to the stamp itself.

In the screen prints, besides simply getting a feel for the new materials and method, I really wanted to play with colors and repetition. Seeing what I could get layering the same image in different colors, as well as blended color. Seeing how they looked overlapping and repeating, or just touching. I wanted to keep the paper fairly simple here, really accentuating the image and leaning from the process, before I move on to creating more layered, detailed, and multi-media works in the future.

 

Portfolio II

In this second portfolio, I have again been working with both screen printing and monotypes. The series is   rather broad and has a variety of styles to it, as I wanted to fully utilize my time experimenting with as many techniques and mediums as I could. The work was done not only with screen prints, but my own stamps and etchings, hand painted backgrounds, printing directly with foliage, as well as incorporating calligraphy and hand lettering. Each piece has a multi-media approach to it, though there is a botanical theme throughout.

The screen prints were inspired by work that I do in calligraphy and hand lettering. I wanted to see what I could do using a floral wreath screen print- both with the wreath itself, as well as what was around or within in. The largest of these took another screen print from my first portfolio and layered the wreath on top. Two more of the pieces have brightly colored backgrounds done in watercolor, while a third I went back in and hand painted in watercolor after it had dried. I also played with coloring directly onto the screen with crayon before printing. One of these I made a screen print of by itself, and with another I layered it on top of the same image that was previously made in black. Afterwards, in four of the pieces I then went back in and added calligraphy and/or hand lettered designs to the interior of the wreaths. This was interesting and rewarding for me to see, and the whole process inspired me with ways that I can incorporate more screen printing designs and details into the work I’m already doing.

The monotypes that I made with the printing press were much more experimental, as I had less of a clear goal in mind while I was trying different techniques out. Inspired by another artist that I had seen online who was printing with real foliage, I wanted to see what I could do using real leaves myself. One of the pieces is purely a leaf study, done with a wide variety of leaves taken from around my neighborhood, pressed flat, painted with ink, and then pressed onto the paper. I then started to play with using other colored ink on the plate as a background, including using one of my hand carved stamps to apply this ink. I learned that, especially with very fresh leaves, some of the ink will press through the leaf and back onto the plate, which made for a few very beautiful ghost image pieces where the ink colors mixed nicely. I also made two etchings with simple plexiglass and a scriber, then press these as well as some leaves onto one piece.

Finally, I went further with my stamp carving and created another two stamps that I utilized on several pieces. Again, I wanted to experiment with a more multi-media approach. Three of the pieces all have watercolors incorporated; two as a background and one where I hand painted some of the areas once the stamp ink was dry. The final piece I used not only a stamp, but some scrap card stock as well as paper that I painted with several washes of coffee.

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Ginger Ahlbum

I created prints from carved linoleum and rubber blocks. My designs feature an outlined female figure whilst the background and setting surrounding her differs. I’ve created eight designs with block printing, all featuring the same woman. The second print I created was the most difficult to make because I had to use three separate blocks to composite one print since I wanted it to be three different colors. The most difficult part of this was trying to get the layers to align because I had to estimate it. Overall, it did not come out perfectly aligned but I still think it was a success because of its imperfections that make it unique. Throughout this project, I realized that I prefer block printing to screen printing. I like the process of carving out the blocks and the result it creates much more than the results of screen printing.

Through this series, I am exploring femininity by showing the girl in different scenarios. I am also exploring solitude by always placing her alone, but also showing how she is content with her solitude by using bright colors and placing her in powerful stances. The various settings I will be putting her in will showcase the expansive potential of women and womanhood. I created a setting of flowers, leaves, ocean, and more. In the end, I scanned the prints to create a book to show them all together because my prints are all connected and trying to tell a story. I really enjoy minimalist drawing, which inspired me to create this character. At first, it was just a doodle in my notebook, but I liked it so much I wanted to do something more with it. I like using simple lines and shapes to create beautiful art. This female character I created is connected to my own life because I am often in solitude because I enjoy being alone. While my character is alone she searches and discovers herself, but also the world that is around her, proving that she is never truly alone.

Image_Format_List_GingerA

Barbara Wlazlo

Portfolio 3

The first piece of the final portfolio continued with the fern screen, upon a background created from pure experimentation. When using the transparent acrylic medium to spread shaved chalk on the screen, the medium ends up takin on the pigments of the many colors of the chalk. I enjoyed this process so much, and had an idea to us the beautiful swirls of color on paper. Using a pallet knife to scrape the colored medium off the screen, and onto paper. This created an array of color gradients and tons of texture. The first of experimental backgrounds, I used to print the fern pattern upon. I repeated the pattern in various ways to fill the background and make the image more cohesive. The second piece is just the pure background of textured, beautiful blue pigmented medium.

Following this experimentation, I felt another inspiration to create a spontaneous design of movement. When creating my transparencies, I used my own emotions to guide my hand in the directions it wanted to go. This allowed me to create my free-flowing prints. This next series of prints is an abstraction of swirls and lines of various thicknesses and movements in countless directions. An intentional manipulation of the screens orientation against the print created these dynamic pieces showing dimensions and lots of movement for the viewer. I loved the activation of negative space against the positive space created by it. Once again, I looked to explore the beauty and nature of color interaction. To further develop this idea, I continued to explore with textures and mixtures of colors in order to entice visual excitement.- Spring 2017 (Portfolio 3)

Portfolio 2

In this presentation of work, I am presenting a variety of works that evolved from my previous idea of natural movement and unplanned artistic developments. I continued to use the screen printing medium using watercolors, acrylic paints as well as chalk with transparent medium to create spontaneous color combinations and textures. I wanted to create an organic use of color by mixing many colors of the shaved chalk and seeing the surprising effects it creates. Following the flow of the colors, helps me organically make the next decision about where to develop each piece. In order to evolve the print that I have used in the previous collection I used watercolors as well as liquid acrylics to create dynamic mixed media prints and further develop my color relationships within the pieces. I hope to evoke emotion with my use of color and free handling of different mediums upon my prints. The use of silk screening allows me to create so many variations of the same prints, which permits for an inner exploration of my artistic motivation.  -Spring 2017 (Portfolio 2)

 

Portfolio 1

I am on a journey of discovery in the genre of printmaking. Beginning with monotype printing using watercolor Caran D’ache crayons as well as oil based ink. During this process I wanted to focus on creating organic forms free of laws and rules, and creating an abstraction made from pure instantaneous movements. The aim was also accentuated by bold colors that would evoke an intense reaction from the viewer. In the next series of prints, I use silk screening to create a pattern like image. I used a naturalistic image of a fern used in the same organic manner as the earlier printing. This time an exploration of texture was explored with layering of images as well as various mediums to create layered prints. The fluidity of these prints aims to evoke a calming effect that will be developed in later series. The idea of organic and freethinking images is further heightened due to the very physical and manual method of the printmaking method. All prints are developed in a sequence of steps, each directly changing and affecting the end product. Art is meant to be a manifestation of the artist’s soul, and that why I enjoy keeping minimal prep in my work as to keep the authenticity of the ideas that manifest themselves on paper. Furthermore, it is very interesting to showcase one’s work in a shared creative environment in which an exchange of ideas is promoted because it is exciting to see what others see in your work, that you may not see yourself. It is this discussion of ideas, thoughts, and emotions that motivate my art to develop further discussions. – Spring 2017 (Portfolio 1)

Barbara Wlazlo PRINT SP’17

Adam Shen

Portfolio 1

Portfolio 2

Portfolio 3

I have always been fascinated with patterns and shapes, especially the negative space created between when multiple shapes interact with each other. My work typically begins with a line which evolves into a shape which then attracts other shapes to it in order to form interlocking patterns. Color is then added to either help the viewer separate the positive and negative shapes or in other cases, to blend them together.

In order to further enhance the complexities of the patterns, rather than using flat solid colors when silk-screening, I used chalk and transparent base to create a grainy, almost gradient effect in some pieces and uneven, mixing patterns in others. While I continued to silk-screen after the first portfolio, the process and shapes began to seem repetitive and played out this is why I then moved onto experimenting with monotypes.

The two monotypes created in the first portfolio were closer to experimentations as to how far the medium could take me rather than actual pieces. The monotypes in the second portfolio were created when I started mixing the shapes from my silk-screening into the monotype medium. By reinterpreting them with the new medium I was allowed a lot more freedom and room for experimentation. The culminated in my third and final portfolio in which the original shapes further evolved to form a figure that would not have been possible with silk-screening.

The figures, shapes, and patterns in my work are nothing more than that. They are an exercise in my attempts to see how far the mediums could take me. By continuously experimenting I was able to create something that I would not even have thought of before.

Silvia Tenempaguay

The subject matter for this portfolio was the simple exploration of medium using quick sketches. Was goal is to explore the process of the mediums in mono printing by keeping my subjects simple and quick. the process has pushed my simple ideas into a new light of complexity and has allowed me develop color, contrast and depth. i simply took a small sketch idea and pushed it with color and technique in mono printing until I felt it complete.

 

My second set of work is a further exploration of the form. using screen printing with a repetitive male portrait form I looked for different effects through blocking and color.  Mono printing also became part of further exploration with the addition of a background and addition of other forms. The goal was to achieve a world of reality and surrealism.

Last but not least, is my Madonna inspired pieces. Inspired by my mother and the female form , this collection is to explore the female form as an individual, as a mother and as child. The female figure with a child becomes separated in my second piece as a confrontation to the effects of present separation on immigrants who are deported. The separation and confrontational stance of the figures are meant to confront the viewer as the space between them becomes tense. The last three pieces are inspired by the life cycle of a woman. One of single-hood , the next one of having a partner in life and lastly motherhood.

Image list format Silvia Tenempaguay