Lost and Found Portfolio (Curatorial Project)
This is an exchange portfolio I curated in 2024 for the the Mid America Print Council Conference.
I asked this group of artists to explore the act of creative re-use by printing onto found surfaces. Artists were invited to consider the specific narratives and mysteries of the appropriated artifact substrates. The printed imagery sets in dialog with the compositional dynamics, haptic qualities, and image contexts of the found surfaces. This act of creative re-use acknowledges the small but positive impacts that incrementally make a difference.
The prints created include various processes including screenprinting, relief printing, lithography, and laser etching on a variety of surfaces including handmade paper, sewing pattern tissue, vintage book pages, magazine pages, comic book pages, tabloid newspaper pages, cereal boxes, vinyl stickers, mylar printing master transparencies, vintage wallpaper, laminate wood paneling, roofing paper, and Naugahyde. Many of the works are printed on both sides. The portfolio box is made from post-consumer product corrugated cardboard, and the colophon is printed on insert stabilizing paper from packages of archival cotton paper.
It has been a pleasure working with these innovative artists and seeing how they responded to the challenge of the project.