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Y P N G T L W I H T S Y P N G T L W I H T S
2020 was marred by global challenges, from the COVID-19 pandemic's health and economic ramifications to widespread protests against racial injustice. The year also saw heightened political divisions, significant environmental concerns, including wildfires, and a rising mental health crisis due to pandemic-induced stressors. This series of events underscored the interconnected nature of contemporary issues and pushed societies, worldwide, to navigate unprecedented changes. This is my response.

YPNGTLWIHTS utilizes mezzotint, an age-old intaglio technique that brings forth images from darkness. Burning homes, cars, and other personal identifiers take our place in the isolated and desolate landscapes, echoing prevalent themes of loss and despair. Viewers of the work, like onlookers at the scene, are invited to pay witness.

In preparing for this project, I was continually reminded of Goya, who unveiled the horrific realities of his era, and traces of his influence are present throughout. Without drawing direct comparisons, my objective is to emphasize the importance of understanding events in their historical context. This is my attempt to achieve that in copper, with ink, on paper.

You’re probably not going to like what I have to say…











Unaccompanied Minor is a series of prints that delves into milestones, or core memories, that have shaped my identity and portray a string of non-sequential thoughts or narratives from adolescence to adulthood.
Named for my former airline passenger classification, the prints that make up Unaccompanied Minor reference the constant construction that took place around my childhood home and surrounding areas.

Patterns, shapes, and textures are plucked from memories like photos cut from a catalogue. Images  are assembled, or ‘built’, and mirror the building materials I would stumble over while playing outside. Wood, screen, shingles, tile, and hardware were found scattered across acres of property in piles all around similar to the layers of ink and collage on paper. Passenger planes, rows of seating, waiting areas, and terminal gates occupy the air and other areas of negative space in my compositions.

My process for this project involved finding links between identity, memory, content, and form, with the resulting prints emerging as unique impressions. Lithography, Monotype, Woodcut, and Chine Collé. 

LIMBO
limbo [lim-boh]

noun, plural limbos.
1. (often initial capital letter) Roman Catholic Theology. a region on the border of hell or heaven, serving as the abode after death of unbaptized infants (limbo of infants) and of the righteous who died before the coming of Christ (limbo of the fathers or limbo of the patriarchs)
2. a place or state of oblivion to which persons or things are regarded as being relegated when cast aside, forgotten, past, or out of date:
My youthful hopes are in the limbo of lost dreams.
3. an intermediate, transitional, or midway state or place.

‘Limbo’ reflects on a unique state of oblivion where persons or things find themselves at an intermediate, transitional, or midway state or place. The word, “Limbo,” in this case, is not entirely similar to its biblical definition, nor is it entirely different. It describes the temporal process of forgetting and being forgotten, embracing anonymity, and entertaining endless possibility in a space that simultaneously acts as a vacuum and a hub.

With this work the artist poses that when we travel we detach ourselves from day-to-day life. Our daily activities are temporarily interrupted by the time it takes to move from one place to another. We find ourselves in designated waiting areas, lines, shuttles, gates, and terminals. Rather than focusing on where we are or where we want to go, this work focuses on the state or place between our location and our destination and draws parallels with common chronological trends in life, storytelling, and trajectory.
 icons 
 of 
 confessions  ︎ 
The American Imagery Bank is a project that explores identity and social practice under the guise of a patriotic internet platform. A website was created to host this platform, whose mission statement reads, “The American Imagery Bank is a conceptual platform meant to serve as a singular source for our national iconography. Its objective is the research, expand, and redefine America’s visual identity through public participation and art production.”

The process and form of the work are meant to be democratic, collaborative, and accessible—allowing the artist and participants to work together in exploring the significance of personal and public identity as the two occupy the same pictorial space.

Inspired by currency and flags, AIB features symbols that hold personal significance to their respective contributors represent them in the picture-plane like avatars in a profile.  The icons are then superimposed over photographed landscapes with varying layers of opacity and transparency. Each symbol acts like an icon, connecting person and place, and creating a type of bond we often feel, but cannot see. The combination is intended to symbolically break down any perceived artist/viewer hierarchy and allude to a sense of equity within each composition.

The process for these works involves several steps or phases. Viewers are invited to submit an emblem of sorts, which represent the individual and amplify their prominence. The symbols are drawn out, carved into wood, and utilized as relief printmaking blocks. The blocks are then printed onto the landscape photographs, leaving literal impressions on each scene. The result is a unique impression where artist serves as an advocate to region and its people. Once the process is complete, the relief blocks are catalogued and placed into a larger inventory known as the American Imagery Bank.
 
, architectural marvels, historical landmarks, places of worship, houses of god, religious monuments, sanctuaries, temples
Dedicated to Merrill Keith Dilbeck, 03/08/1962 - 10/15/2016

These color-woodcut prints offer up beer-themed snippets or slogans and are inspired by advertising and endorsements for the consumption of alcoholic products. The image and text compositions play on societal contradictions that simultaneously advocate for drinking for some and condemning others—victims of alcohol and substance abuse disorders.

These prints are meant to function similarly, beckoning viewers to question whether the depictions are made in jest or as criticism. As a result, the completeness of each message and its interpretation may be seen as equally vague or contradictory.
Printerviews was an audio/visual series of artist interviews with an emphasis placed on topics in contemporary printmaking between 2014-2016. Interviews would take place via the web and address questions that may be of interest to members of the public as well as artists, scholars, students, and other art professionals. In keeping with the democratic spirit of printmaking, the purpose of Printerviews was meant to imitate Q & A sessions that took place during visiting artist lectures and to deliver this content in an accessible and easy-to-consume format. The project was intended to offer insight to listeners who were interested in what printmaking artists were thinking and doing at the time.

The concept of Printerviews came out of necessity. Several teaching obstacles arose in the print lab (budgetary restrictions and limited access to educational resources). However, our struggles helped shape what would become really fascinating content. We worked with generous artists with a mutual desire to further the charitable and democratic spirit of printmaking and who supported our mission to share and distribute information.

Thank you to all of our contributing artists and supporters.