-Coleen Tyler
Madonna, Cyanotype Collage, 2020
What is the theme/message you're conveying in your piece?
The subject of a Madonna seems especially appropriate today, a month after the beginning of the pandemic with its resulting restrictions and fears. The need for a compassion in these times takes the form of a woman and mother who is an iconic image of hope.
Would you like to share the process on how this was made?
This is a cyanotype collage on Lana royal paper with thread. It is 44 x 31”. The images are derived from old x-rays, photocopies of body parts, and prints made with shadows on chemically light-sensitive paper
What does this piece mean to you?
The collage technique emphasizes the fragmented way things have become, revealing both the outside and inside simultaneously and exposing the vulnerability of our bodies.
-Lisa Madson
From the Deep, Silkscreen and dye transfer on canvas, 2020
What is the theme/message you're conveying in your piece?
This fabric hanging is called ‘From the Deep’ to make the association of an underwater scene and in hopes that the viewer may consider the importance of our oceans rivers and environment in general.
Would you like to share the process on how this was made?
The shapes that form the upwelling growth were done by cutting fabric into small pieces and soaking them in walnut ink that I had made by boiling walnuts gathered in my backyard. The fabric was cut,soaked laid on the canvas and left to dry. After the outline was formed the blue was done with Cyanotype fluid and spray dye. It was then over painted with some toning color. The seaweed I collected from Sandy Hook dried, made a template and burned the screen for the white ink. All of the binding, backing and tabs for the wall hanging were done by the fabric artist Constance Dean.
What does this piece mean to you?
I would like to bring to the viewer the beauty of the environment and the consideration of taking steps to preserve it to whatever degree each person is able whether it be recycling at home or support of a national environmental organization.
-Carolyn Spivak
Cluster Bubbles, CNC drypoint print (copper), watercolor, 2020
What is the theme/message you're conveying in your piece?
Depending on how you look at it, the intersecting bubbles obstruct or protect each other - and there’s no good answer to which is on top. This has a lot in common with social interactions.
Would you like to share the process on how this was made?
I played with CorelDraw features to generate the curves. Output from CorelDraw (vector, svg) was input to Snapmaker’s software. (Snapmaker is a three-in-one 3D printer/laser engraver/CNC machine.) Here I used the CNC function (it stands for Computer Numerical Control, it’s a term for a drill bit mounted on a moving head that’s driven from software). I used a diamond drag bit (a non spinning bit with an industrial diamond tip) to etch the design into a copper plate. I printed the plate using the standard intaglio process, and then painted it with watercolor. I actually made several prints with different colors and different layering - this is my favorite.
What does this piece mean to you?
First of all, it was fun to make. I love seeing the CNC machine do its thing - it’s doing the work for me (if you ignore all the work getting to that point)! I am attracted to things that can be interpreted different ways, as the base print can be. Also, in the Covid-19 era, it reminds me that we’re all interconnected, even when we think we’re in our own bubble.
-Judith Lieberman
Winter Twilight, Digital Inkjet Print, 2020
Crescent, Digital Inkjet Print, 2018
What is the theme/message you're conveying in your piece?
These prints are simply a celebration of the visual beauty that exists in the world. I like to take a scene that I have imagined, or have actually encountered, and pare it down to its most essential elements. I hope that what results is an experience of a kind of intensified seeing, maybe with a little magic thrown in.
Would you like to share the process on how this was made?
My digital prints are built up in layers, sort of like a digital collage, using the programs Painter and Photoshop. They are completely composed on the computer, working from a small sketch, usually in colored pencil, in my journal. When completed, they are printed on a large format printer. Just like in traditional printmaking, the initial printed image is always a bit unexpected. Then it's back to the computer file to tweak and correct, adjust color and contrast, and soften the edges of the elements to attain a still, dreamlike quality. I usually print five to ten prints plus an artist's proof on rag paper with archival ink.
What does this piece mean to you?
Crescent was originally an assemblage, but I decided to do a print of it. The image was completely reworked to take advantage of the capabilities of the digital medium. It is an imaginary scene, inspired by the houses in my neighborhood at dusk. The inspiration for Winter Twilight was a scene I happened upon one winter evening while driving. I left the freeway, turned southwest, and there it was in front of me. I hurried home to sketch it before I might forget it. The clouds, which are all exactly the same color, appeared dark near the lighted horizon and light against the upper part of the sky. I thought that was fascinating.
-Claire B Marcus
Blab of the Pave / Walt Whitman 200, Relief printed artist made and mixed papers, digital urban photography, crown structure, 2019
What is the theme/message you're conveying in your piece?
I made this book in 2019, when we marked the two hundredth anniversary of Walt Whitman's birth. Its title is a phrase from his Song of Myself, a poem that is part of LEAVES OF GRASS. Whitman's timely appreciations of democracy and diversity resonate with me, and his images of city life are especially vibrant. I was born and raised in a big city and I thrive in the energy of an urban environment. My book celebrates the life of our cities with photographs I've taken in New York (my home town) and Philadelphia (where I went to college).
Would you like to share the process on how this was made?
BLAB OF THE PAVE is built with the folded crown structure developed by book artist Hedi Kyle. I addded linen stitching for texture, a nod to the long tradition of fiber arts in my family. The photographs are combined with relief prints on Hahnemuhle and Canson papers, and paper I made at Doug Zucco's White Crow Paper Mill. This book is an excerpt from my EXPERT WITNESS series of urban photo essays.
What does this piece mean to you?
Pandemic lockdowns and sheltering have limited our access to the potentials and possibilities of city life. The tone of our recent politics limited our ability to learn from and work with each other. I hope we will soon return to the more civil and civic world I record in my photographs.
-Julie Harris
The King is Dead, Photo-intaglio with gold leaf on handmade paper, 2019
What is the theme/message you're conveying in your piece?
My work is largely autobiographical. I try to make what is intangible--personal experiences, thoughts, feelings, and humor--into something tangible, an artist book, print, or sculptural object. Technically, I place form against form, object against object, each interacting with the other to create a visual metaphor based on my own experiences. Each piece begins as a representation of a thought or feeling, and the interweaving of the imagery along with the materials create a visual poetry. As I look at a series several months after its completion, I rediscover those perceptions that I was trying to understand, and then I recognize the pieces as inductively formed images of personal growth. My art becomes, when the viewer interprets it, a dialogue of self-searching, discovery, and understanding. In this way, the process becomes a metaphor for my own existence.
Would you like to share the process on how this was made?
"The King is Dead" was created from a photograph that I altered in photoshop then made into a photo-intaglio. I printed the plate on handmade embedded abaca paper. The bird has a gold leaf crpwn and band on his leg.
What does this piece mean to you?
"The King is Dead", deals with the personal narrative regarding the dead of my father. The gold band on the leg refers to actions that enslave we humans, while the crown represents the patriarchal stance in our society.
-Leonard Merlo
Flag Four, Encaustic, Collage Prints and Paper, Pastel, Drawing on Wooden Panel, 2020
Untitled, Encaustic, Collage Prints and Paper, Pastel, Drawing on Wooden Panel, 2020
What is the theme/message you're conveying in your piece?
Because of the pandemic, I have had a lot of extra time in the studio. After a cleaning and organizing session last Spring, I set up my studio for encaustic painting. I love this process, especially the way you can incorporate collage, drawing, painting and transparency into the work.
The Flag #4 piece is part of a series I started by playing around by using registers of collage, prints, drawing and pastels to create the composition. This work really doesn’t have any specific message but is inspired by working alongside the Veteran community at Frontline Arts. I like to incorporate fragments of Frontline Paper into each work as support for our Veteran community.
The Untitled work was a prelude to the series of Flag Paintings. Again I was exploring the use of cast off prints, Frontline paper, pastel, and drawing to create varied registers within the composition. I like the way the Geometry formulas become transparent when coated with wax and you are able to see the back of the printed page.
Would you like to share the process on how this was made?
Both pieces in this exhibit are Encaustic paintings/collages. Because I enjoy woodworking I make my own cradled wood panes using birch plywood. One of the works is coated with RF Encaustic Gesso and the other has Arches watercolor paper mounted onto the plywood. I tend to use both techniques. The watercolor paper allows painting with watercolors prior to applying any wax, and both allow the use of pastels before the wax. Collage elements can be applied to the paper or incorporated into the layers of wax. I build the composition as I work using all types of papers, drawing and RF Encaustic Colors.
What does this piece mean to you?
These works really have no hidden meaning, but are more an homage to the former Print Council of New Jersey and now Frontline Arts. The use of prints and Frontline Paper in each work are an aspect of that homage. They are part of an ongoing exploration of techniques that combine painting, printmaking, collage and drawing. I have been drawn to the combination of techniques for many years and these works are part of that evolving continuum.
-Maria Pisano
Via Dolorosa: From Sea to Shining Sea, digital printing, 2019
What is the theme/message you're conveying in your piece?
This artist book highlights the USA’s Trump administration push to build a Southern border wall, at all costs - reflecting government prejudices and policies that disregard our laws and human rights and attempts to keep certain immigrants out of our country as a result of hate and discrimination. This country is made up of immigrants like myself and it is richer for it, destroying the diversity of who we are as a nation, disregarding damage to the environment - both fauna and flora, Native American burial grounds, etc., are some of the consequences resulting from this pursuit. Side A of the work depicts fences and maps of the entire US/Mexico border from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico with symbolic migrants/asylum seekers reinforcing it. Side B highlights the plight of immigrants, laws that have been passed to prevent them from even applying, information on ICE, separation and incarceration of children and families, etc.
Would you like to share the process on how this was made?
The theme of this book is about a wall meant to separate and as such I wanted my book structure to reflect that. The structure is a herringbone accordion book with walls on both sides. The book is laser printed and the drawings are from elementary school children. The poem, The New Colossus is by Emma Lazarus, 1883, reminding us that we are all immigrants to this country and that is what this country was built on and therefore we should welcome people who are poor, terrorized and seek asylum.
What does this piece mean to you?
I came to this country when I was 14 and could not possibly conceive that I would be separated from my parents when we arrived. The action of the government to separate children and babies, literally tearing them from their arms and jailing them in for profit detention centers, that get over a million dollars a day from taxpayers is the most ignominious act of our government. The fact that republican leaders went along with it is a bloodstain on our country.
I hope to add my voice and scream out for those who do not have a voice, to say how this act destroyed so many lives, both children and parents that will have to live with the trauma for the rest of their lives.
-Marcia Shiffman
Sheltered Peace 4, woodblock print, 2020
What is the theme/message you're conveying in your piece?
The work called Shelter of Peace is designed around two images. The center oval form reflects the kind of amulet commonly used to reflect or avert evil influences such as the superstition around the evil eye as a curse. These types of amulets can be dated back to 3300 BC in Mesopotamia. Middle Eastern forms of the evil eye amulets, are known as a “nazar”, an Arabic word meaning 'sight' or 'attention', is generally made of blue glass featuring concentric circles of white and blue represent the eye.
The arch over the amulet is based on bible sayings denoting a shelter of peace for mankind. I have used the natural arch of branches in many images to denote sheltering and protection.
Would you like to share the process on how this was made?
This is a wood block relief print. Two unique wood blocks were used. Oil based ink was rolled onto the blocks. Each color was separately done and the image dried between the separate colors. The image was printed on a hand press. It was printed on Somerset paper. The blue block was printed first, then overlain with the black inked image.
What does this piece mean to you?
This print was designed and printed in February 2020 before the Covid lockdown. It reflects my on-going concerns since 2016 with the extreme political climate and the need for peace and understanding in our community. After March 2020, I have developed a series of digital images using the sheltering arch over abstracted Covid 19 novovirus images. I have attached one of these later images - Covid 19 Arch – which was based upon Sheltered Peace #4 print.
-Nancy Boney
Protection, acrylic and collage,
What is the theme/message you're conveying in your piece?
The tree shape suggests freedom, family, aliveness. The steps below the tree suggest walking a path together, supporting one other.
Would you like to share the process on how this was made?
The painting on canvass uses acrylic paint and collage. The tree shape is an Asian paper, the walk way is cut out painted shapes.The size is 16” x 20
What does this piece mean to you?
I like its openness, its simplicity, its suggestiveness. It feels protective yet active.
-Judy Tobie
Just Fun!, handmade paper, paint pen, thread, 2020
What is the theme/message you're conveying in your piece?
I started this book in the early stages of the virus using only materials at hand. I worked compulsively at first and then sporadically, probably taking 6 months to complete. I was surprised at the light heartedness and color I used (somewhat unlike my usual work) and I think unconsciously I wanted to bring joy and color into my life!
Would you like to share the process on how this was made?
The handmade paper I used I made some years ago but the paint pens were new to me. Probably the covers & coptic binding took the longest time, the pages were fragile & required additional support at the sewing points and I rebound it a few times!
What does this piece mean to you?
I love this little book, it speaks pleasure and fun and hard work.........much needed attributes in these troubled times.
-Jim Fallon
Rent Party, acrylic on Frontline Paper, 2020
What is the theme/message you're conveying in your piece?
Music is often a theme in my artwork and our current state of affairs brought to mind many ways we escape the daily chaos. Dating back to the 1920’s Harlem apartment occupants would announce a “whist party” or “social dance” which was an invitation to a "rent party". A social occasion where tenants and musicians played their instruments and passed the hat to raise money to pay the rent. Renters gathered in their apartments with music and dance and escaped the everyday hardships and discrimination.
Would you like to share the process on how this was made?
The artwork “Rent Party” is acrylic on Frontline Arts handmade paper created from repurposed military uniforms. Veteran artist groups create the paper and share their stories through visual art and spoken word.
What does this piece mean to you?
As we shelter in place with the pandemic and we witness many social injustices we come together with each other through art and music. Currently we may utilize different platforms. Although it is 2021 and much different time from 1920’s, we continue to seize the opportunities to gather virtually and within our own homes and appreciate being part of a resilient community.
Visit the website at: https://www.frontlinearts.org/current-exhibition-47th-annual-members-exhibition
Interviews by Hugo Gatica January 2020