Silkscreen, 22”x15”, 2019

This print was made while the BFA student was reading Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space per my recommendation. She is interested in the memories contained within structures, the nostalgia of decay, and the relationship between environment and architecture.

iPhone Photography, Digital Pigment Print, 25”x25”, 2019

This BFA student was interested in text as image, highlighting the strangeness of the mundane, and documenting patterns and textures from everyday objects. She was also interested in combinations of digital and analog. She made this piece after a one-on-one critique in which we discussed Marshall McLuhan, Fluxus, and Stephen Shore.

Silkscreen and Acrylic Paint, Each Print 25”x22”, 2019

Diptych of screenprints based on digital drawing and combined with acrylic paint applied using artist-made brush. Brushes for the series were made from found materials (this one was metal chain). Drawings represent an imagined mapping of natural systems and pathways. This BFA student was interested in combinations of organic and industrial source imagery.

Linocut and Monoprint, Detail of 12’ x 4’ Installation, 2020

Students responded to the following prompt: The year is 2500 and the Earth as we once knew it is completely changed. Humanity’s well-being is stable, but we have survived by living in a sterile, manmade, artificially-oxygenated environment. No currently living human has ever seen a flower, only images of them from the past. You are a collective of “worlds designers” tasked to design the new flowers for a virtual reality experience that will simulate Earth as humans from the past loved it best. Your task is to create something that fills the aesthetic void of the flowers’ absence.

Each student carved one linocut flower. The class worked as a group to create monoprints and compose their wall installation.

Aluminum Plate Lithography with Silkscreen Color Layers, 22”x15”, 2018

Prompt: Research and respond to a theme in contemporary art. Students were provided with a list of themes and related resources and asked to fill out a worksheet that functioned as a precursor to an artist statement. As an ideation exercise, they answered questions under headings of, "previous work, personal experience, research & reference, contemporary & historical context, artistic influence, and personal goals." This student’s chosen theme was “The Body.”

Intaglio (hardground, softground, aquatint, and à la poupée), 12”x9”, 2018

Prompt: Research and respond to a theme in contemporary art. Students were provided with a list of themes and related resources and asked to fill out a worksheet that functioned as a precursor to an artist statement. As an ideation exercise, they answered questions under headings of, "previous work, personal experience, research & reference, contemporary & historical context, artistic influence, and personal goals.” This student chose to explore the theme “Gender Identity.”

Polyester lithography plate with laser-printed halftone, ballpoint pen, and sharpie, Hand-colored, 7”x10”, 2018

Prompt: Combine digital and hand-drawn imagery to create a narrative.

Silkscreen, Each wallpaper at least 36 square feet, 2019

Prompt: Students will explore the basics of silkscreen printing while designing repeating patterns. Their wallpaper patterns will come together in a collaborative large-scale installation. The workshop will take inspiration from contemporary artists like Virgil Marti and Renee Green whose use of pattern goes beyond the decorative and creates a viewer experience that is not only immersive but that also contains elements of narrative. We will also discuss the usefulness of the multiple in creating large-scale artworks. (The opening reception was attended by over 150 visitors. For many of the students, this was their first time discussing their work with viewers at an art opening.)

Silkscreen, detail of 5' x 8' wallpaper, 2019.

Letraset, Laser-cut Paper, Letterpress Pressure Printing, Letterpress Typesetting, Each print 12"x9", 2019

Objectives: Work with letterforms to create abstract compositions, establish a relationship between foreground text and background image, and blend analog and digital processes.

Prompt: First, create abstract compositions using Letraset dry transfers. Then, scan your compositions, vector trace, and use the laser cutter to cut out of different thicknesses of paper. These paper stencils will be placed behind your printing paper on the letterpress to create pressure prints. Lastly, set type for a phrase that reflects the mood of your compositions and print over top.

Linocut, 24’x2’ installation, 2018

Prompt: Each student will design, carve, and print one building and one other object that might be found in a city. We will each print an edition of 5, and then cut out and collage our prints to create an imaginary skyline. We will work as a team to create a successful composition for the final skyline that takes both negative and positive space into consideration.

Linocut, Detail of 24’x2’ installation, 2017

Seven-Layer Reductive Woodcut, 15” x 11”, 2018

Prompt: This project is a woodcut image based on a song lyric, with colors chosen to reflect the mood of the song. The song this student referenced was You’re So Vain by Carly Simon.

Woodcut and Monoprint, 12"x9", 2018

Prompt: Use monoprinting techniques to plan color layers that register correctly with a woodblock key image.

Reductive three-layer monoprint (Ink is rolled onto plexiglass with a brayer and wiped away with q-tips and rags. Colors are then printed in overlapping layers on the same sheet of paper. ), 9”x12”, 2018

Prompt: Using a drawing as reference, design and print three color layers (yellow, magenta, and cyan) that are registered correctly to mimic your drawing and overlap to create six colors total.

Charcoal, india ink, cut paper. Each composition 12”x9”, 2019

Prompt: Choose three distinct shapes and duplicate them at various sizes, alternating between black, grey, and white. Collage the shapes together to demonstrate the Gestalt Principles as well as the Elements and Principles of Design. For each composition, write a paragraph describing how you used at least one Gestalt Principle, Element of Design, and Principle of Design.

Graphite, 24”x19”, 2019

Prompt: Create a hybrid animal based on studies of taxidermy specimens drawn from life at the Natural History Museum and invent a landscape for your creature to live in. This assignment teaches students to combine imagery from multiple references and also helps them practice working with value and texture.

Charcoal, combining additive and reductive drawing methods, 24”x19”, 2019

Prompt: Self-portrait with exaggerated facial expression. Your other decisions for the image (background, clothing/costume, stylistic decisions) should complement and support the emotion that is the theme of your drawing. Make sure your drawing demonstrates fully-developed tonal shading and correct sighting and proportions for portraiture, using the strategies we’ve practiced in class.

Charcoal and white chalk on oversize kraft paper, 4 foot x 6 foot, 2019

Prompt: Work in groups of 3 to build a 2-point perspective structure from your imagination. Decide as a group whether you want to construct an interior space (like a room), an exterior space (like a cityscape), or an abstract composition of geometric solids (3D shapes.) Once you have mapped out the forms, decide on an imagined light source and shade the whole composition using a full tonal range.

3D collage using cardboard, paper, acrylic paint, and Mod Podge, 12”x12”x5”, 2019

Prompt: Research an artist, present to the class, and create an artwork inspired by your research. The finished work should reference the artist without being a direct master copy. (This student chose Vincent Van Gogh and used a familiar image from art history to explore ways of blurring the lines between 2D and 3D media)