What is your name?
Ron Pokrasso
Where are you from?
I was born in Brooklyn, NY, grew up in Massapequa Park, Long Island and moved to Santa Fe NM from Queens, NY in 1978- been in Santa Fe ever since.
What is the name of your studio?
I currently run the Galisteo Street Studio.
Who is your favorite baseball team?
Is this a personal question for me or do you ask this of everyone???? NY Yankees.
(This was a personal question specifically for Ron, but we started asking everyone)
Who are your favorite printmakers?
Most of the printmakers I would mention are, like me, artists who do or also use printmaking. The list is long but includes Rembrandt, Whistler, Picasso, Rauschenberg, Johns, Olivera, Marx.
What was your first job as an artist?
I don’t know if this counts but for 3 years I worked as a picture framer in an art supply store in Flushing, Queens. On the side I taught Adult Education classes in drawing, painting and art appreciation. My first REAL job brought me to Santa Fe to be the Master Printer and Production Supervisor for Classic Gravure. From 1978-1982 I hand printed over 30,000 impressions from the original photogravure plates of The North American Indian by Edward S Curtis.
Where did you discover printmaking and how did you get into it?
As a sophomore at SUNY Brockport my drawing professor suggested I take printmaking from Robert E Marx. I immediately fell in love with the process of intaglio printmaking, the smell of the studio, the way the ink transferred to paper, and to the mentoring and imagery of Robert Marx. To this day I continue to credit Robert as the single most important person in my being an artist.
How did you come up with your non-traditional techniques?
I did indeed receive a solid but very academic foundation at both Brockport (1969-73) as well as at Pratt Institute (1973-75) for my MFA. I do recall one night in particular during a weekly figure drawing session that I hosted in my house in Queens sometime in 1977 when I picked up some masking tape and started applying it to my graphite drawing. This was a very spontaneous “go for it” moment that both surprised and thrilled me. It lead to all kinds of risk taking on my part that in itself was the opening of a huge door encouraging me to stay on the uncomfortable edge. These creative leaps are never planned but rather come from the notion of “why not” try this or that when the moment presents itself. I’ve learned over my many years of art making that when I choose the outside edge of comfort I am always on to something good. I have a saying that is kind of a mantra for me. “If I knew where I was going I’d be lost.” That pretty much sums it up.
What is one tool you could not create without?
For me it is not necessarily any physical tool but rather a spiritual, emotional passion to express myself.
What is your biggest rule in the print shop?
My quick answer actually is, “There are no rules.” This really points to the art making process. But as a print shop manager I’m sure you are looking for more of a guide to usage of the space. I teach students about their responsibilities to clean up after themselves, the proper use of tools, solvents, etc and I am a stickler for the separation of clean hands and dirty hands areas.
How has this pandemic changed your life as an artist? What has stayed the same?
I have actually found these past couple of months to be a great art making period. I’ve become much more relaxed with my own personal studio time since all other uses of the space have been nonexistent. The pressure to be productive with small spurts of creative output has been replaced with a seemingly endless period of un-interrupted focus. As a workshop presenter and Master Printer for other artists it’s been a long time since I’ve experienced that. As for what has stayed the same, there’s still not enough hours in the day.
