Printmaking is currently on view in two exhibits in the Burns Arts Atrium, Visual Arts
Building.
“Drawn to Print: Impressions of the Louvre” features 40 works by 12 Union students who participated in a three-week Paris mini-term over winter break. While in the French capital, the students spent two days each week drawing sculptures in the Louvre Museum; among them, the Victory of Samothrace, the Venus de Milo, and Michelangelo's Bound Slave and Rebellious Slave.
Their drawings were then converted into dry point etchings in atelier de l'Orme, a small cooperative print shop in Paris.
Dry point etchings, the most immediate form of intaglio, involves using a dry point needle to scratch a line into a copper plate. When the drawing is complete, ink is pushed down into the line and the excess wiped off the surface. A damp piece of paper is placed on top, and all is then hand cranked through an etching press.
The result is an image created with a slightly embossed line that shows ink on top and a mark that has its own unique character.
The mini-term participants were Alyssa Adler ’14, Greta Bieg ’15, Caroline Brustowicz ’15, John Famulare ’15, Melissa Harvey ‘15, Licia He ’14, Ned Iverson ’15, Trista Johnson ’13, Jane Miller ’15, Alex Mitchell ’14, Gerardo Reyes ’15 and Cosette Shachnow ’14. They were accompanied on the mini-term by Sandra Wimer, printmaker and Visual Arts senior artist in residence.
“Drawn to Print” runs through Feb. 22.
“Navigating the Currents: 100 Inkteraction Reactions” displays work by members of Inkteraction, a networking site for printmakers to share art and stories and build relationships with other printmakers around the globe.
“There are 100 5”x7” prints. Each is a world unto its own, and together they form a powerful line showing all types of printmaking,” said Wimer.
The exhibit, coordinated by artists Christopher Clark and Jonathan Stewart, runs through March 17.