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Will Cotton in 'Paper/Print' at the International Print Center New York

When I saw Minna’s work I found myself not only being interested in the technical aspects of the print but wanted to know more of the story behind them.  I found myself imagining the different scenarios that might have inspired her.

Something Important digital background, acrylic ink, colored pencil 10 3/4” X 16 1/4” image on 15 5/8” X 20 3/4” paper

Think About What You Are Going To Do digital background, acrylic ink, colored pencil 24 1/4” X 16 3/4 image on 22 1/4” X 30 paper

History Can’t Be Rewritten digital background, acrylic ink, colored pencil 17 1/4” X 13 9/16” image on 22 5/8” X 18 3/4” paper

  Inquiry digital background, acrylic ink, colored pencil 12 1/2” X 16 3/4” on 18 3/4” X 22 5/8”    

Artist Statement:

My work has always focused on language. I believe that communication is elusive and dependent on historical and cultural contexts. Words and images that appear commonplace to one generation may be unfamiliar or unknown to another. I present this inter-generational mix-up by using images from early- and mid-twentieth century manuals on home management, decor, repair, health, etiquette and education with contemporary imagery from home photos and fashion magazines. I combine images from one era with another, or link them with diagrams, to encourage information displacement and disorientation, similar to information overload in today's easy data access. Remixing the narrative creates new associations and assigns new meaning, while, I hope, still retaining a sense of humor.

These digital and hand-drawn combination images are started in collaboration with the printer Tom Blaess, in his studio in Bern, Switzerland. We work together on creating a digital impression that would be a good beginning first layer to continue developing an image, which is then printed on printmaking rag paper in his print shop. I then bring that image back with me to my Ithaca, NY, studio, where I stare at each impression for some time, thinking about how to resolve the work. Sometimes it comes quickly. Other times I go through many trials before a resolution becomes apparent. All images are unique.

                                                                             - Minna Resnick

Guess what friends!

Manneken Press Artists’ Exhibitions

Recent, current and upcoming exhibitions by Manneken Press artists Jonathan Higgins is exhibiting metalpoint drawings in point/line/shape/form, a 5-person exhibition at the McLean County Art Center in Bloomington, IL. The exhibition runs through February 18, with a reception for the artists on Friday, January 20, 5 – 7 pm. Philip Van Keuren’s 2016 photogravure “Shrub II” is included in Idols And…

I usually post work that combines a traditional printmaking technique with some digital component.  Eszter’s work is digital but the materials she uses to print her images make the work outstanding and take printmaking into new arenas.

 Julia, double printed ice sheet from the Ice Hotel Sweden, digital

 Tear, screen printed ice, digital print

 I am the left eye you are the right, screen print, paper object

 Suspending Time, iron oxide print on a magnet sheet, digital

Statement:

Time is the greatest mystery in the world.  We cannot see it or touch it but we still somehow feel it. Time is both relative and mystical. Somewhere there is a watch inside of us that senses time differently when we are young or old. The issue is whether time is a fundamental property of the universe, or simply an intellectual observation that our perceptions produce. There is life before and after us. Once our time is up do we cease to exist or become transformed?

I am looking for answers to these questions in my artwork. I believe art is more than just a habit or a custom. It is a lifestyle and an addiction. It involves a lot of experimenting, decision making and failing as well. But there is a very special feeling that keeps me going; sometimes my stomach feels like a gymnast landing 20 perfect somersaults. I know if I have this feeling while I am looking at my work I did something right.

My works are dissected over and over again, and then put back together. I print on the side of a stack of paper and then let the stack slide, thereby shaping the final image. In my other works I am printing on ice sheets. As the ice melts it changes the image on the surface, and it slowly fades away. When I am working with ice, I feel like I can step above the every day’s boundaries. I can stop time by simply placing my prints back in the freezer, or I can start to activate time again whenever I want.

Photography and digital techniques are a significant part of my work. I am always amazed to see the moment and the expression of the human face that my photos are preserving.  How can we deliver the special feeling and nature of a frozen moment? Is it really true that every photo is a time capsule?  Time is scary.  It leads to the unknown future. The fear of fate and disappearance is always in me. I find relief looking at a photograph where everything is stable.    

I am working with my children’s and my ancestor’s portraits. I am exploring their identities as an extension of mine; they carry a similar lineage but possess very different individual characteristics. They carry my genes, my ideas, and my culture. I am looking for similarities in physiognomy and unseen humanity throughout various generations.  My ancestors and children make up the past and future of my family’s cycle. I am aiming to show an invisible human nature through my portraits.  How can we act or look like our ancestors without knowing or meeting them?  Can we really shape our own life or is everything already per-ordained?  I strive to capture an aura of these unknown questions in my work.                                                                    -Eszter Sziksz 

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