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| Sydney Wilson (R) prints a proof for Alison Saar with Aunna Escobedo (L) |
P.R.I.N.T Press thanks Sydney Wilson for serving as an Intern and on the successful completion of her BFA in fall 2018. Her skills were a wonderful complement to this semester’s activities at P.R.I.N.T. She shares her experiences in the following essay:
It has truly been a great last semester here at UNT because of my ability to become involved with an inspiring community of knowledgeable printmakers through the opportunity of interning at P.R.I.N.T Press. The experience of hands-on learning at a professional print press is invaluable; it has better prepared me for emerging into the field of art post graduation and has taught me the ins and outs of working alongside a professional artist on an edition of prints they ultimately envision.
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| Hand-made buttons for the upcoming SGCI conference |
The semester began with preparing for the
upcoming SGCI conference in March 2019. SGCI is one of the biggest printmaking conferences in the country and for a part of it to be held at UNT is a huge deal. Working to make signage, buttons, stickers, and the program for a conference that an extreme amount of talented printmakers will likely be at is a remarkable prospect; to know that an artist you admire could end up wearing a button you made is an incredibly exciting concept!
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| Sydney Wilson tests a plate for Alison Saar |
Working with
Alison Saar this semester was amazing; she brought such a fun energy with her into the press, and loved sharing her vast knowledge with interested students. For her print project, I was able to laser cut her cotton boll stencils in
CVAD's Digital Fabrication Lab so that they could be glued onto a masonite board in a wallpaper type pattern for the first layer of her multi block print. I also worked alongside other studio volunteers to mix inks, prepare paper, create blocks and get a finished proof in the short span of a week. I found this fast-paced environment extremely energizing and I loved the way our group of printmakers really came together to complete the artist's vision (
more photos here).
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Sydney Wilson (L) and Aunna Escobedo (R) proof a plate for Alison Saar with Lari Gibbons
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Alongside MFA candidate Aunna Escobedo, we began to dye paper and start the process of refinining proofs for Alison's edition. The edition has many intricate steps, and working together to find a flow that fits best took some time, but eventually we fell into the right printing pattern and began to gradually build up layers towards a finished print. Alison's print has a number of variables that affect the finished product, so each layer has to move slowly for the additional layers to end up working together in harmony. We continued to work with Alison on the final print, with minimal adjustments, even through the chaos of an unexpected studio move.
What I've learned the most from this semester, and Lari Gibbons in particular, is the power of perseverance through changing times, and to never stop working towards your end goal. Even though outside pressures made it near impossible, Lari still persists on making the best prints possible for Alison Saar and I find that extremely admirable. It's been an amazing semester learning from this set of inspiring ladies, and I hope to put the skill sets I've collected from them to good use in my future endeavors outside of UNT.––Sydney Wilson, BFA 2018
Thank you to Sydney Wilson for all of your great work at the press, and congratulations on
receiving your BFA! We look forward to seeing what you do next!
P.R.I.N.T is proud of its work with student interns, including:
