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