Everyday at six in the evening for one week, students of Professor Emily Orzech’s Printmaking 1 class were assigned to stop and reflect on their experiences, to think of the people, objects and surroundings that make up the world, so that they could take photographs and create a portfolio of eight prints.
Once done, their prints were exchanged with West Liberty University’s Printmaking 1 class. This print exchange will take place this coming Thursday, Dec. 6, and participants will get to keep the resulting work. Currently, the portfolios are on display in the Trexler Library Info Commons.
The students learned different methods of printmaking including pattern linocut, screen-print and etching. They learned how to mix ink for making desired colors, how to use a printing press, how to carve into linocut blocks, the developing of screens in a dark room and much more.
The purpose of the exchange was to provide a printmaking experience like the ones many artists participate in. Besides this, the purpose was also for students to begin print collections, share art and to see the different ways that other artists interpreted the prompt: to create a collage of photographs.
“My favorite part of the collaboration was the ability to share art. I’m told print artists do these exchanges sometimes so it felt like an authentic artistic experience,” said Muhlenberg College participant Stuart Hanford ‘19. “What I like about art is the ability to make something and appreciate the way it looks. The thing I like about printmaking is that you can produce a lot of nearly identical versions of whatever you’re making, so it’s a lot easier to give them as gifts.”
Hanford’s collage was a made up of an assortment of things on a beach, a packet of ramen noodles, some books and a bed.
“I’m usually eating, reading in bed, or doing work at 6 [PM], so I would say I had a fairly nondescript subject matter. I don’t love the way my print turned out, and that’s partially because I don’t like my collage, and partially because I had some problems with ink during the printing process itself so the print is far too dark,” said Hanford.
Students in Professor Orzech’s class were taught how to do a certain type of print and given about two weeks to produce some of their own.
“It’s a cool experience creating something knowing someone else, whom you don’t know, is going to have an artwork of yours and vice versa,” said Muhlenberg College participant Diana Leguizamon ’19. “I really like the idea of collecting prints and collaborating with other students to make art. I think it’s exciting and it challenges you not only to create a piece that you like and enjoy but to also create something you think will speak to other people and engage them in an interesting way.”
Leguizamon made a collage of various images that she photographed. She focused on shapes, lines and patterns that were in her everyday surroundings. Something that she loves about art is that it is a way to process life for so many people and that it can be used as a tool to communicate with others and reach them in a nuanced way. Leguizamon is a Studio Art minor and has been able to dabble in many different forms of art, which is something that she really enjoys. She is able to experiment and find new ways to express herself all while learning so much along the way.
“My relationship with art is very personal and long standing,” described Leguizamon. “I have always used some kind of art form to express myself throughout my life time and find that it is a major outlet for me.”
