Prints and more on display at the Marion Art Center
Mar 4, 2023
Tabor Academy student Joanne Huang, “Oh, the Human Race!” (detail), 2022, mixed media/printmaking, 20” x 16”. Photo by: Sawyer Smook-Pollitt
Tabor Academy student Joanne Huang, “Oh, the Human Race!”, 2022, mixed media/printmaking, 20” x 16”.
Taylor Hickey, “Infinitesimal,” 2019, linocut, 2” x 3”.
Janie Kinnane, “Copious,” (detail), 2020, block print, 60” x 40”.
Taylor Hickey, “Phases,” 2018, etching, aquatint, india ink, 4” x 4” each.
Work by Old Rochester Regional High School students.
MARION — Interdisciplinary artist Taylor Hickey often ponders the vastness of the universe — and she hopes to share those thoughts through her prints on display at the Marion Art Center.
“I’m really interested in the scientific perspective of trying to understand the universe,” said Hickey at the opening reception of “The New Printmakers” on Saturday, March 4. “Is it infinite or finite? What’s the shape of it?”
Hickey’s work — planetary bodies and space-scapes printed in black and white — began in the mid-2010s when she did a series of prints based on satellites while she was an undergraduate student at McNeese State University in Louisiana.
It was during that time when Hickey began to combine her printmaking with bookmaking and three-dimensional forms.
The entire show is designed to highlight the art of printmaking, from linocut prints — where blocks of linoleum are carved and inked to create images — to other traditional and experimental methods of putting images to paper.
Hickey uses the linocut technique to create texture in her artwork. By using a high-pressure printing press on slightly damp paper she can create an embossed texture in her work.
“If [these pieces] weren’t framed I would tell you to touch them,” she said. “I encourage people to touch them because they have a texture to them.”
Hickey, who is based in New Bedford, displayed her work at the Marion Art Center alongside Rhode Island printmaker Janie Kinnane as well as students from Old Rochester Regional High School and Tabor Academy.
Kinnae’s block prints feature images of the natural world — a whale, sea creatures and flowers. Her work ranges in size from small postcard-size pieces to prints that take up entire walls.
The students of Old Rochester Regional High School and Tabor Academy presented a mix of colorful multi-media artwork with print elements to traditional black and white ink prints. Student work was also on sale alongside that of Hickey and Kinnane.
“The New Printmakers” is on display at the Marion Art Center until Friday, March 24. The gallery is open Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday by appointment.
