Exhibition Shows All The Hues Fit To Print

“My art is a living thing, a labor of birth, exasperation, growth, change, and joy. Printmaking has always been my primary passion, from exploring traditional Old World techniques to new 21st-century materials and technologies. Wanting to expand my art into a more sculptural tactile experience led me to experiment with altering published books and to crafting one-of-a-kind books from my original prints and drawings. I find my image inspiration in the everyday of nature, ordinary places and things, and the human form.”

Flora and Fauna is in some ways an apt encapsulation of ​“Process • Proof • Print,” a sprawling, vivid printmaking show running at Creative Arts Workshop’s Hilles Gallery, 80 Audubon St., now through Sept. 28. The show, a collaboration between CAW and the Printmakers’ Network of Southern New England (PNSNE) ​“showcases the printmaking artwork of 29 accomplished artists featuring traditional and contemporary process techniques such as relief, intaglio, silkscreen, monoprints, collagraphs, photo transfers, and lithographs,” its press release states. Throughout the month, it has also held free printmaking demonstrations, workshops, and gallery talks ​“to reveal the wizardry that goes into creating a transferred image.” The programming was ​“designed to encourage the public to explore the art of printmaking — an ancient art form and one of the oldest methods of reproducing media.” As the show amply demonstrates, the art form also remains among the most vibrant.

It’s unfair to pick just a few examples from such a diverse show, but among the pieces are a series by Yuemei Zhang, ​“inspired by my experience as a Chinese immigrant in Connecticut,” Zhang writes. ​“These works express and emphasize the power in witnessing the mixing of cultures. An intertwined and powerful cultural balance in transition between Eastern and Western cultures and lifestyles are portrayed through the lens of the immigrant experience in my art.” Crossing and Revolving arose from a trip to Newfoundland, in which the island’s natural environment also felt like an apt metaphor for the mixing of cultures in successive waves of immigration, against the simple truth that ​“without the other shore in sight, there is no turning around.”

Even without knowing the meaning behind the work, its intentions shine through. In its depictions of active, tumultuous nature, Zhang’s pieces both hearken back to centuries of stunning Asian prints and feel entirely modern. It’s easy just to get lost in the texture and energy of the forms Zhang creates.

Many of the pieces push at the boundaries of what printmaking can do; among those are works by Kim Tester, like Witness Tree — Do It Again. For Tester, the piece was ​“a one-of-a-kind experiment,” focused, ​“obviously, on the state of gun violence” in the U.S. ​“I printed an edition, then took a proof and shot at it with several guns that a friend had on his farm. He walked me through the process and helped me when the shotgun’s kickback was too much for my body. I was surprised that it took so many bullets to create so little damage to an inanimate object, yet one bullet kills a living thing so quickly and completely. The Sandy Hook school shooting was two years prior and took place 20 minutes from my town, where first responders, who I still see, went there to help. It was on my mind for this work.”

“My hope is that, at first glance, the ​‘pretty’ nature of the work catches people until they realize that bullets are involved,” Tester continues. ​“The surprise is part of the plan. There is beauty in the patterns, enough so that the violence often gets sidetracked until the viewer takes a closer look.”

The destruction of the paper itself feels in some ways like a particular violation, as if the mylar separating the paper from the viewer has arrived too late to protect it. The sheen on that outer coating is reflective as well; look closely enough and you might see yourself reflected, part of the work — now implicated. What are we going to do about the problems Tester brings up?

Tester isn’t alone in her overt social messaging, which has been a part of printmaking since there have been prints. Prints, after all, aren’t just for fine art. They’re also for making posters for rallies, signs for protests. In some ways it’s one of the most democratic visual art media out there, and the show makes sure that part of its history is represented.

But it’s also a medium in which the artist can revel in process to create something beautiful. ​“My multi-plate color etchings are created using a process called color separation,” writes Mary Teichman. ​“Four copper plates, one for each primary color — red, yellow, blue, and black — are etched and printed on a press sequentially. When the colors overlap, they produce secondary colors as well as browns and grays. This results in a diversity of colors and textures with a look that is unique to this medium. In recent years, I have begun to explore relief printmaking, specifically linoleum cuts. With this process, I use both the reduction and multi-block linocut methods, frequently using four blocks similar to my etching technique. With this medium, I am enjoying working more boldly, with less detail and the use of opaque, flat color.”

There is nothing flat about the results, however. Teichman’s work may lean into the technical, but in her exquisite use of light, shade, and form, she captures the luminosity of walking in the woods, when the light filtering through the trees obscures vision enough that some details are lost. Sometimes all that’s left is the form. Sometimes that’s all that matters.

“Process • Proof • Print,” runs at Creative Arts Workshop’s Hilles Gallery, 80 Audubon St., now through Sept. 28. Visit CAW’s website for hours and more information.