Platemark Ann Shafer

In s3e59, Platemark host Ann Shafer sits down with David Avery to talk shop. David is an etcher, who restrains his work in both size and palette, but manages to tackle big topics. His social commentary is stinging and remarkable in that it comes in such a small package. These etchings pack a punch.
Ann and David talk about absurdist literature, standing on the shoulders of giants (Dürer, Max Klinger, Della Bella), how prescient Goltzius’s Disgracers are, and how we could never have imagined the state of our politics—reality is outstripping our imaginations.  
Cover image: Patricia Avery
Max Klinger (German, 1857–1920). Abduction (plate 9 from Paraphrase on the Finding of a Glove), 1881. Etching, drypoint, and aquatint on chine collé. Sheet: 18 15/16 x 26 in. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

David Avery (American, born 1952). Obeliscolycny, 2013. Etching. Plate: 27 ¾ x 5 in.; sheet: 33 5/8 x 10 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

David Avery (American, born 1952). Safe, Clean, Cheap: Phaethon in the 21st Century, 2011. Etching. Plate: 6 x 6 in.; sheet: 11 x 12 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

David Avery (American, born 1952). Too Close to the Sun, 2013. Etching. Plate: 6 x 6 in.; sheet: 11 x 12 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

David Avery (American, born 1952). Running on Empty, 2016. Etching. Plate: 6 x 6 in.; sheet: 11 x 12 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

David Avery (American, born 1952). Mendacia Ridicula (The Wheel of Ixion), 2018. Etching. Plate: 6 x 6 in.; sheet: 12 x 11 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558–1617). After Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem (Netherlandish, 1562–1638). The Four Disgracers, 1588. Engraving. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

David Avery (American, born 1952). Ship of Fools (Das Narrenschiff), 2018.Etching. Plate: 14 ¼ x 7 ½ in. Courtesy of the Artist.

David Avery (American, born 1952). After the Deluge, 2022. Etching. Plate: 10 ½ x 7 ¾ in. Courtesy of the Artist.

David Avery (American, born 1952). Becalmed, 2023. Etching. Plate: 6 x 15 ¾ in.; sheet: 10 x 18 ¾ in. Courtesy of the Artist.

David Avery (American, born 1952). Concerning The Great Ship MOUR-DE-ZENCLE, 2016. Etching. Plate: 12 ¾ x 6 ¼ in.; sheet: 18 ¼ x 11 in. Courtesy of the Artist.
David’s galleries
 https://www.inclusionsgallery.com/ 
https://www.warnockfinearts.com/david-avery           
https://childsgallery.com/artist/david-avery/

In s3e59, Platemark host Ann Shafer continues talking to artists included in Print Austin’s 5x5 exhibition, juried by Myzska Lewis, a curator at Tandem Press. Second up is Anna Trojanowska, an artist and lithographer from Wroclaw, Poland. Anna creates collages made from lithographs, which she creates on a single marble slab in her garage studio. The works included in 5x5 seek to give the feeling of echolalia, a form of autism in which words and phrases are repeated over and over. That repetition is a central part of the collages and gives the feeling of uncontrolled reverberation.
Ann and Anna talk about falling in love with lithography, what it’s like to use marble instead of limestone, how the veins in marble wander as the stone is ground down, how to transfer sound into images, and the surprise technique she would turn to if she had to give up lithography.
Cover image by Marcin Simonides

Anna Trojanowska (Polish, born 1978). Echolalia_12, 2022. Carrara marble lithograph, collage. 16 x 12 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

Anna Trojanowska (Polish, born 1978). Echolalia_14, 2022. Carrara marble lithograph, collage. 16 x 12 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

Anna Trojanowska (Polish, born 1978). Echolalia_16, 2022. Carrara marble lithograph, collage. 16 x 12 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

Anna Trojanowska (Polish, born 1978). Echolalia_19, 2022. Carrara marble lithograph, collage. 16 x 12 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

Anna Trojanowska (Polish, born 1978). Echolalia_20, 2022. Carrara marble lithograph, collage. 16 x 12 in. Courtesy of the Artist.
 
Anna's website: https://litografia.pl/en/authors/ 

In s3e57, Platemark host Ann Shafer speaks with Karen Kunc, an artist who manipulates reduction woodcuts in an amazing and unique way. Karen is a retired professor from the University of Nebraska, and is owner of Constellation Studios in downtown Lincoln. At the studio, which opened ten years ago, Karen offers workshops, curates exhibitions, and makes her own work. The studio includes equipment for papermaking, book arts, letterpress, and other means of creating prints.
 Karen’s work includes relief prints and artist books reflecting her signature nature-based lyrical abstraction. These images could be macro or micro: the biomorphic shapes could be aerial images of her native Nebraska, or the wiggles and squiggles could be forms held within our cells. Each print becomes a portal to an alternate reality, where the boundaries between the tangible and the intangible blur, inviting us to explore the complexities of our earthly domain.
 This all sounds simple, but Karen’s process is anything but. She uses stencils, fingers, hands, brushes and any other tool to gain amazing transitions between forms. Plus, she intuitively solves compositional challenges as she goes. Karen is an artist's artist whose groundbreaking woodcuts will amaze and delight you.

Karen Kunc (American, born 1952). Array of Raressence, 2018. Woodcut. 72 x 26 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Karen Kunc (American, born 1952). Coral Sanctuary, 2019. Woodcut. 72 x 26 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Karen Kunc (American, born 1952). Blue Cascade, 2020. Woodcut. 14 1/2 x 42 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Karen Kunc (American, born 1952). Gatherings, 2021. Woodcut. 14 x 29 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Karen Kunc (American, born 1952). Distillation, 2018. Woodcut, etching, pochoir, and watercolor. 12 x 24 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Karen Kunc (American, born 1952). Sacred Allegori, 2018. Woodcut, etching, pochoir, and watercolor. 24 x 24 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Karen Kunc (American, born 1952). Drifts of Ice & Gold, 2022. Woodcut. 17 x 56 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Karen Kunc (American, born 1952). Blooms of the Present Moment, 2023. Woodcut. 17 x 56 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Karen Kunc (American, born 1952). Waves of Riches, 2016. Woodcut and pochoir. 13 1/2 x 57 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Karen Kunc (American, born 1952). Panoply, 2016. Woodcut and pochoir. 13 1/2 x 57. Courtesy of the artist.

Karen Kunc (American, born 1952). Verse from Macrocosmica, 2010. Woodcut. 29 x 24 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Karen Kunc (American, born 1952). Release, 2020–21. Accordion-folded volume with etching, woodcut, and letterpress on various Japanese Nishinouchi papers. Closed: 7 x 4 in.; open: 7 x 56 in. Published by Blue Heron Press at Constellation Studios, Lincoln, Nebraska. Courtesy of the artist.

Karen Kunc (American, born 1952). The Way of Water, 2024. Accordion-folded volume with woodcut and letterpress on Japanese Nishinouchi. Closed: 11 x 7 1/2 in.; open: 11 x 45 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Karen Kunc (American, born 1952). Incessant White Noise, 2013. Accordion-folded volume with woodcut and letterpress on Japanese Nishinouchi. Closed: 11 x 5 in; open: 11 x 35 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Constellation Studios, Lincoln, NE.

In s3e56, Platemark host Ann Shafer introduces a five-part miniseries with the artists in 5X5, an exhibition that was part of PrintAustin 2024. First up is Briar Craig, one of five artists selected for inclusion in 5X5 by juror J. Myszka Lewis, curator at Tandem Press, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Briar is an artist and professor at University of British Columbia, Kelowna. He primarily works in screenprint, using found text and surprising juxtapositions. Ann and Briar talk about words and their unlikely combinations, Dada poetry, UV screenprints, his favorite color, and the only text-based tattoo that has tempted him so far.

Briar Craig (Canadian, born 1961). UTOPIAN VACUUM, 2017. UV screenprint. 40 x 28 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

Briar Craig (Canadian, born 1961). An Uncomfortable Situation Will Soon be Eased, UV screenprint. 40 x 28 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

Installation view of Briar Craig: README. January 29–April 17, 2022. Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna, BC, Canada.

Briar Craig (Canadian, born 1961). White Wash Privilege, 2014. UV screenprint. 40 x 28 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

Sam Gilliam (American, 1933–2022). 3 PM School Bus, 2018. Screenprint. 18 ½ x 51 ½. Published by Lily Press, Rockville, MD. All rights reserved. Courtesy of Lily Press.

Sam Gilliam (American, 1933–2022). 4 PM School Bus, 2018. Screenprint. 18 ½ x 51 ½. Published by Lily Press, Rockville, MD. All rights reserved. Courtesy of Lily Press.

Briar Craig (Canadian, born 1961). There Is Nothing You Can’t Do, 2017. Neon. 120 x 38 x 5 in. (305 x 97 x 12.5 cm.). Courtesy of the Artist.
 
USEFUL LINKS
Briar’s website www.briarcraig.com
Briar’s video about printing White Wash Privilege https://youtu.be/o-NCS2IwSGc?si=0b_PoHveHf98RvFN

In s3e55, Platemark host Ann Shafer speaks with Miguel A. Aragón, artist and professor at the City University of New York, Staten Island. They talk about CNC routers, drills as woodcutting tools, growing up in Juarez, Mexico, and that city’s war on drugs as a subject in his art. He weaves a tight conceptual circle in prints that explore violence, death, perception, and memory in surprisingly subtle works.

Miguel A. Aragón (Mexican, born 1978). Espectadores (Spectators), from the series Meoria Fracturada, 2013. Burnt residue embossment. 11 x 15 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Miguel A. Aragón (Mexican, born 1978). Retrato 18, negro (Portrait 18, black), 2008. Hand-drilled paper with drywall dust. 96 x 48 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

Miguel A. Aragón (Mexican, born 1978). Retrato 18, negro (Portrait 18, white), 2008. Hand-drilled paper. Each: 96 x 48 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

Miguel A. Aragón (Mexican, born 1978). Retrato 06, panel de yeso (Portrait 06, drywall). Hand-drilled drywall. 96 x 48 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

Miguel A. Aragón drilling into drywall for the Retrato series.

Miguel A. Aragón (Mexican, born 1978). Retrato 06, panel de yeso (Portrait 06, drywall). Hand-drilled drywall. 96 x 48 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Miguel A. Aragón (Mexican, born 1978). Aplacado (el Veladero) [Appeased (el Veladero)], 2016. Woodcut. Image: 48 x 36 in.; sheet: 51 ½ x 38 ½ in. Published by Flatbed Press, Austin.

Miguel A. Aragón working at Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, CA.

Miguel A. Aragón working at Scuola Internazionale di Grafica di Venezia in Venice, Italy.
Miguel A. Aragón working at Zygote Press in Cleveland, OH.

Miguel A. Aragón working with Wuon Gean Ho at East London Printmakers.

Studio view of the Edinburgh Printmakers in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Studio view of the Glasgow Print Studio in Glasgow, Scotland

Studio view of the Grafikwerkstatt Dresden in Dresden, Germany.

Michael Barnes working at the Steindruck München Lithografie-Werkstatt in Munich, Germany.

Miguel A. Aragón’s mother’s doilies at the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, OH.

Miguel A. Aragón. 26.06.2009, 20:07:31. Color lithograph. Sheet: 27.5 x 22 in. Published by Flatbed Press, Austin.

Miguel A. Aragón. Index: 2170. Color lithograph. Sheet: 27 1/2 x 22 in. Published by Flatbed Press, Austin.

Installation shot of Miguel Aragón: Holding it all Gently. February 13–March 14, 2024. College of Staten Island, City University of New York, Staten Island.

Installation shot of Miguel Aragón: Holding it all Gently. February 13–March 14, 2024. College of Staten Island, City University of New York, Staten Island.

Installation shot of Miguel Aragón: Holding it all Gently. February 13–March 14, 2024. College of Staten Island, City University of New York, Staten Island.

In s3e54, Platemark host Ann Shafer talks with Andrew Raftery, artist, professor, scholar, and wallpaper designer. Andrew works in several modes, most notably in engraving. The through line in the work is domesticity. An early print featured a young man suit shopping. Next was a portfolio of engravings detailing rooms during a real estate open house. Then engravings representing each month in the life of a garden were transferred to twelve dinnerplates and sold as a set. His latest show included watercolors depicting historical interior rooms that feature French and Chinese wallpapers. He also produces letterpress wallpapers himself.
 Ann and Andrew talk about how engraving shows itself completely—there is no secret to how it is made, the inscrutability of Vermeer’s paintings, the importance of understanding the history of prints, how the transfer process works with ceramic dinnerware, how French and Chinese wallpapers were made (some were hand painted!), and hatboxes.
Images of Andrew's art are by Erik Gould; Andrew's headshot is by Ned Lochaya. Andrew is represented by Mary Ryan Gallery. 

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). Human Resources, 1990s. Engraving (unfinished). Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). Cosmetic Counter, 1990s. Exterior of folding triptych. Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). Cosmetic Counter, 1990s. Interior of folding triptych. Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). Suit Shopping: An Engraved Narrative, 2002. Diptych, engraving. Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). Suit Shopping: An Engraved Narrative, 2002. Triptych, engraving. Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). Scene 1 (living room) from the portfolio Open House, 2008. Engraving. Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). Scene 2 (dining room) from the portfolio Open House, 2008. Engraving. Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). Scene 3 (kitchen) from the portfolio Open House, 2008. Engraving. Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). Scene 4 (hallway) from the portfolio Open House, 2008. Engraving. Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). Scene 5 (bedroom) from the portfolio Open House, 2008. Engraving. Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). January (recto) from the set Autobiography of a Garden on Twelve Engraved Plates, 2009–16. Earthenware dinner plate with transferred engraving. Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). January (verso) from the set Autobiography of a Garden on Twelve Engraved Plates, 2009–16. Earthenware dinner plate with transferred engraving. Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). February from the set Autobiography of a Garden on Twelve Engraved Plates, 2009–16. Earthenware dinner plate with transferred engraving. Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). March from the set Autobiography of a Garden on Twelve Engraved Plates, 2009–16. Earthenware dinner plate with transferred engraving. Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). April from the set Autobiography of a Garden on Twelve Engraved Plates, 2009–16. Earthenware dinner plate with transferred engraving. Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). May from the set Autobiography of a Garden on Twelve Engraved Plates, 2009–16. Earthenware dinner plate with transferred engraving. Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). June from the set Autobiography of a Garden on Twelve Engraved Plates, 2009–16. Earthenware dinner plate with transferred engraving. Courtesy of the artist.

Andrew Raftery (American, born 1962). July from the set Autobiography of a Garden on Twelve Engraved Plates, 2009–16. Earthenware dinner plate with transferred engravin