The gallery on the street level of Seekers Church is one way we encourage artistic creativity. Beginning on October 4th the Seekers Gallery will be showing an exhibit of woodblock prints and intaglio by Lauren Seat.
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By Lauren Seat
As part of the requirements for a liberal arts education, I was required to take at least two art classes during my four years at Denison University; a daunting task for one such as myself, who did not consider herself to be an artist. However, a printmaking class was offered and due to my interest in Japan I thought it would be a neat tie into my East Asian Studies major, and a fun task before I went to Japan for the next semester. So in the fall of 2006, I took a chance and decided to try my hand at the printing press. However, as you’ll see, I never leave words far behind, gaining most of my inspiration from song lyrics.
I quickly learned how challenging the art would be. It was by far the most difficult class I took, possibly because it was so labor intensive. We started with wood block prints. Included in this show is a series of four woodblock prints illustrating the song The District Sleeps Alone Tonight by The Postal Service.
As is apparently required in all art classes, or at least the ones I’ve taken, we did self-portraits. For this assignment we moved from the more difficult wood to softer plastic and applied the same carving techniques. As became my style, I used the song Other Side of the World by KT Tunstall. At this point it started to show how I was feeling about going to Japan for a semester….
Next we moved into intaglio printmaking, using zinc plates instead of wood or plastic. Here I found my preferred medium, in etchings. Through the use of acid, I could draw into so-called “hard grounds” which protect the zinc, allowing the acid to bite the exposed metal. After removing the hard grounds, ink is applied over the whole plate and then wiped away so that ink only remains in the lines. The plate is then run through a printing press with damp paper.
The green pair, subtly incorporating Globes and Maps by Something Corporate, shows the uses of acid. After creating the first one, stop-out was used to keep some of the areas light, while submerging the rest into the acid again. This process creates the shading shown in the subsequent print.
The final project I completed was a series. I continued to utilize song lyrics, and for these seven prints I used the following songs:
Black Horse and the Cherry Tree by KT Tunstall
Mixed Up World by Sophie Ellis Bextor
If I Am by Nine Days
Finally Woken by Jem
Make It Last by Stroke 9
Buckets of Rain by Bob Dylan
Chocolate by Snow Patrol
I’m currently working on finding a printmaking studio to make more and new prints. However, for the time being, these prints are not for sale.
Enjoy the show!
