This is the last week to check out the amazing print show at the Dunedin Fine Arts Center. 24 Hands Exhibition is on the second floor and you don’t want to miss it.
Started in 2020 by Printmaker/Professor Marjorie Greene Graff, 24 Hands is a collective of 12 printmakers from the Tampa Bay area. The exhibit shows their latest work using exciting traditional and experimental techniques which include intaglio, relief, lithography, silkscreen and mono printing.
My latest print, Planted by the Waters, is part of this exciting show. In this mono print I use a variety of relief printing methods including the use of graphite pencil. The tree is drawn with graphite which when used over the thick ink results in a highly textured surface. I’ve always liked to draw and adding this dimension to my print satisfied that long ago passion. I added layers of different colors using a carved wood block, a Lino print and hand cut stencils. Planted By the Waters is inspired by Psalms 1 in which David the Psalmist imparts a blessings on those that meditate day and night.
Included in this exhibition are two mono prints by Marjorie Graff one called P90 and the other titled, Blue Moon. In Blue Moon small accents of blue peek through the soft but colorful strips of pinks, greens and reds. The moon in the left corner of the print hovers over her abstract landscape casting shadows of blue which are dispersed throughout the print. The blue is striking and adds a dynamic color unifying the composition. Graff is an extraordinary colorist; she understands color and using them successfully in this reductive print to inspire the viewer.
I was fascinated by Barbara Hubbard’s print titled, Quantum Entanglement Series #5. Unlike the other prints in the show Hubbard uses a combination of printmaking, collaging and other mixed media materials. I could not detect which printing methods she used but loved the idea of layers of ‘storytelling’ in her work. The title implies something that is measured but messed up. Horizontal rows of different sized faces of an Asian women move cross the canvas overlapping silhouettes of city skyline. Floating above the landscape of faces and cities are two large colorfully illustrated hearts with one heart bleeding off the edge. Each heart depicts severed arteries. In the background are small leaf shapes falling around the large prominent hearts. A lot of metaphors and symbolism are hidden in this work. Is this about anti -Asian sentiments? Take a look at Hubbard’s amazing work and you tell me what you think is the meaning behind Quantum Entanglement Series #5.
Series #5
Ry Mccullough and Saumitra Chandratreya both use silkscreen printing methods but each in an entirely different way. Chandratreya titles his work Analogous Movement and combines screen printing with pattern transfers. His images suggest to me textured markings of the bottom of sneakers. These numerous overlapping pastel patterns compose the complete background. Printed over the background patterns are two thick-lined green and black angular shapes. As opposed to the free roaming sneaker patterns, the defined shapes imply boundaries similar to a familiar designated place defined by limitations. The two emotions of freedom and restrictions seem to collide but I love the simplicity of the strong lines over the patterned background. What do you think?
In McCullough’s work he uses a screen print combined with gouache, collage and an old technique called ‘pochoir’. Pochoir is a French word for a hand stencil technique used in printmaking. In his three pieces each called Still Life…. he plays with space, color and flat shapes representing common items. A solid background gives each item its own character and although the objects are placed far apart each one is placed strategically creating an uneasy tension within the composition. Look closely at McCullough’s work as you might miss the ‘fun’ in his prints.
Other printmakers in the show are Linda Guy, Christine Renc-Carter, Stephen Littlefield, and Polly Perkins. Take a look and see the show this week. It is not to be missed and will be over on May 15.
Rachel Stewart
