Amidst a continual development towards digital production, streamlined reproduction, and efficiency, five Golden Hill artists have come together in an effort to preserve some traditional printing techniques and the process of working collaboratively. Out of living rooms and a garage-turned-studio, Yeller is producing and reproducing works of art using silk-screen, block, hand-cut amberlith, and other print methods. Their goal is to encourage the creative output of each other and the people they live around, and to give people an affordable opportunity to purchase and own art.
I cut stencils out by hand on amberlith, then burn and print them in class. I try to print on recycled material but it usually ends up being 50/50 recycled to new. I love screen printing because it gets me off the computer, and allows me to make finished pieces with few steps.
- Steph Walker
My prints are produced through the process silk-screening. Perhaps I'm a glutton for punishment, but I am intrigued with various processes of forming images on paper, and the tactile feel of a good ol' print. I really enjoy the old school concept of craft and handiwork, and being able to apply that to what I do as an illustrator; with screens and inks rather than pen. I am also pretty thrilled about one of the concepts for this show: making art objects that can be reproduced and sold for less than an original drawing.
- Lindsay Preston
All of my prints are created by silkscreen printing. I am drawn to printmaking because of it's unique balance between the human touch and mechanization, especially in the highly industrialized and digital age we live in. I also think it looks pretty bitching.
- John Zappas
I've been working on block printing lately, which essentially is a giant, overcomplicated, time consuming stamp. You carve away what you don't want to lay down on the paper. The process includes uncomfortably sitting over a large sheet of linoleum in a baseball-catchers position for up to twelve hours with an array of sharp carving tools passing dangerously close to parts of my body that i plan on keeping for the entirety of my life. Having a broken arm right now, I have also had to make all these haphazard, ridiculous compensations, and improvise how I work with the materials. It's been a process of trial and error so far. I have really enjoyed working with block printing specifically because you have to earn the outcome in a way that isn't normally offered when working with illustration. I also enjoy taking a visual language that people are familiar with and relocating it in a medium they might not expect to see it featured.
- Wes Bruce
I like screen printing because it sits on the fence between art and design, particularly when you use it to reproduce a hand-drawn image. In one way, you have complete control over the image and on the other, the process presents numerous variables and takes its own control. I like the process of making an image and then allowing it to be swayed by whatever the screen, ink, paper, and environment want to do with it.
- Joel P West
Yeller debuts their first round of prints next Friday, February 13th, all of which will be available for purchase on their website after the show. Swing by to see the prints and hear The Mattson 2 on your way to The Paddleboat's 7" release at Ken Cinema at midnight. MXD830 / 830 25th / 6-11 PM