Uncommon Prints x Common Matrices

No appointments necessary. Face masks required.
Proof of vaccination required for the opening reception and events.

Woman Made Gallery is excited to announce Uncommon Prints x Common Matrices juried by Cathie Ruggie Saunders. Uncommon Prints x Common Matrices is a group exhibition featuring the artwork of 28 women and non-binary artists exploring the concept and techniques of a transfer in unexpected ways and across mediums. 

As a traditional printmaking convention, a matrix is a master surface from which to make an impression.  Typical matrices are wood, Bavarian limestone or aluminum plates, copper or zinc, and a silkscreen frame and stencils. This exhibition opens up the traditional practice to highlight the uncommon methods of “transferring a mark.” From fingers, handprints, using earth pigments and plant berries, Uncommon Prints x Common Matrices underlines the artistic encounter by women with the everyday and reveals lasting impressions. The exhibition is on view at the gallery, with artworks additionally listed for sale online.

 

Juror's Statement

In her jurors’ statement, Cathie Ruggie Saunders writes: “To be invited to conceive of an innovative premise for an exhibition, and jury the submissions sent in from as far away as New Zealand and Australia is a rare opportunity, and one for which I am most grateful.   The women and non-binary artists that contributed their printmaking vision definitely demonstrate that creativity abounds.

Women’s traditional domestic pursuits such as stitching, dyeing, and quilting are gathered into this exhibit in a mark-making manner that explores the relief surface as a sculptural matrix.  Moments of simple observation (of eggshells, rust, rain, flour, coffee, make-up) often dismissed are elevated to visceral and elegant impressions defying the traditional canon.  And though these uncommon times that we are living in might have broken the resilience of many, these artists flex their voices to recognize and seize the opportunities to expand printmaking boundaries.

There is no fear in using oneself as a matrix, whether it be one’s face with cosmetics, or one’s torso with graphite.   Identity as revealed in one’s visage or the fecund powers of the female body, are put forth in a vulnerable yet strident manner, witnesses to the belief that we each have something unique to say and share.  With touch (pressure) being a critical component of printmaking, the selected prints in this exhibit indeed come from a deep point of contact, one that both touches the artist and the viewer.”
 

Exhibiting Artists:

Natalie Boyett
Mia Brown-Seguin
Savannah Bustillo
Teresa Castaneda
Martha Chiplis
Hellen Colman
Kathleen Greco
Kayla Haugen
Clarissa Jakobsons
Regina Durante Jestrow
Millicent Kennedy
Shama Kipfer-Tessler
Hava Liebowitz
Hannah Jo Malaczynski
Barb McDonald
Lacey Minor
BettyAnn Mocek
Lisa Nelson Raabe
Nirmal S Raja
Bonnie Ralston
Gina Lee Robbins
Ciel Rodriguez
Sue Scanlon
Jacqueline Valdez
Anahi Velazquez Torres
Carla Winterbottom
Chandra Wu
Chunbo Zhang

About the Juror:  Cathie Ruggie Saunders is an artist, educator and mentor living and working in Chicago. She currently teaches in the Visual Communication Design Department at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is the Chair of the Art and Design Department at Saint Xavier University, Chicago IL. She holds an MFA and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BA from the Northwestern University. Her work has been displayed in exhibitions held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Temari Center for Asian & Pacific Fibers, Honolulu, Hawaii; American Cultural Center, New Delhi, India, World Print Competition, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Footprint: Northwest International Small Format Print Exhibition. Seattle, WA.

She has won 2 American Graphic Design Awards, First Annual Tampa Book Arts Studio Letterpress Excellence Award in Contemporary Ephemera (with Martha Chiplis); Illinois Arts Council Artists Fellowship; Teaching Excellence Award, Saint Xavier University. Prominent institutions like the Library of Congress, The Art Institute of Chicago, Harold Washington Library Special Collections, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India, Vanderbilt University Jean and Alexander Heard Library, Nashville, TN, Huntington Museum and Library. San Marino, CA have her work in their collections. Her work can also be found in the publications like For the Love of Letterpress, a Printing Handbook for Instructors and Students, written and designed with Martha Chiplis, 2013 (first edition); 2019 (second edition). Bloomsbury, London.

View the exhibition online
Visit the Gallery -- Thursdays 12 - 6:30 PM CST; Fridays and Saturdays  12 - 4 PM CST 
 

COVID-10 Update: As of January 3, 2022, Woman Made Gallery is following the City of Chicago and CDC guidelines as relevant to retail businesses and social events. Per Phase 5, WMG will no longer limit the number of visitors to the gallery. No appointments are necessary. Proof of vaccination will be required for events (e.g. opening receptions, artists walkthroughs). Face masks are required at all times regardless of vaccination status.  We will continue to keep tabs on public health guidance updates and continue to follow recommendations. 

Image: Ciel Rodriguez, “because i don’t tell you enough,” he wrote to me (2020), cyanotype, letterpress text with homemade graphite ink, lip balm impression, kissed by the artist, 17 x 21 x 1 in. (framed)