Capital City Arts Initiative presents 'Ink, Paper, Print' exhibition at WNC gallery

The Capital City Arts Initiative and Western Nevada College present "Ink, Paper, Print" an exhibition with work by 12 regional artists in the college’s Bristlecone Gallery, 2201 W College Parkway, Carson City.

CCAI is grateful to Carol Brown for guest curating the show and to the college for hosting the exhibition from August 27 – October 16, 2020. The gallery is open to the public, M-F, 9am - 7pm. Due to public health concerns, there will not be an artists’ reception. View the exhibition video here.

"Ink, Paper, Print" focuses attention on the variety of printmaking processes the artists use including etchings, linoleum blocks, screen prints, mezzotints, letterpress, moku-hanga, and monoprints. Each one of these techniques requires a delicate touch and years of experience to achieve mastery.

The exhibition presents prints by Carol Brown, Galen Brown, Inge Bruggeman, Katherine Case, Teal Francis, Mary Kenny, Eunkang Koh, Jim McCormick, Cathryn Powell, Phyllis Shafer, Mick Sheldon, and Rachel Stiff.

Making mezzotints requires long hours of painstaking and repetitive mark-making to create images of exquisite quality such as Galen Brown’s. The Nevada Museum of Art said about his work, “Brown’s painstaking and often obsessive practice results in works that demonstrate his commitment to erasing the boundaries between art and everyday life.”

Rachel Stiff teaches drawing, printmaking, and painting at Western Nevada College. Her monoprint compositions evoke imagined and changing spaces within the construction and deconstruction of the Western landscape. Monoprints allow her to combine structure with the intuitive painterly way she works.

Inge Bruggeman’s work revolves around the idea of the book — the book as object, artifact, and cultural icon. She makes artist’s books, prints, and other text-based art that investigate our personal and collective relationship to the shifting role of the book and print media in our world today. Bruggeman is Associate Professor and Area Head of the Book & Publication Arts program in UNR’s Art Department.

Teal Francis’ artworks of animals and human-made objects come to life through her intaglio, linocuts, and screen printing processes. Through playful images, she questions viewers’ expectations and basic ways of operating in the world. Teal is a MFA graduate of UNR’s Art Department.

By combining collage, printmaking, drawing, and painting techniques, Mary Kenny builds images to explore narratives that challenge viewers’ expectations of how the world works. Kenny is an Associate Professor of Art at Sierra Nevada University, Incline Village, NV.

Eunkang Koh’s colorful and imaginary etchings present “the world as an illusion and believes that what we actually see is a perception that is programmed through mainstream cultures.” In her work, she depicts interactions between human/animal hybrid creatures to address this subject matter. Koh is an Associate Professor and head of Printmaking at UNR’s Art Department.

From her Meridian Press studio in Reno, Katherine Case creates images by hand-setting metal type and printing on an antique Vandercook proof press. She bases her work on “the diverse and abundant landscapes of the Reno-Tahoe area.”

Painter Phyllis Shafer makes portraits of the natural environment including in this relief print of Fallen Leaf Lake. Her vistas juxtapose flora and fauna. Shafer teaches painting and printmaking at Lake Tahoe Community College, South Lake Tahoe, CA.

Mick Sheldon issues limited editions of 12 for each of his large linoleum block prints. His complex compositions and labor intensive processes span a wide range of topics including fast food, tools, and still lifes with discarded pots. Sheldon shared an unprinted linoleum block with the exhibition. Sheldon has retired as a faculty member from American River College, Sacramento, Calif.

Cathryn Powell’s relief prints focus on her experiences as a plein air painter and emphasizes composition and color theory. Powell is an active member of the Lake Tahoe Art League and Open Studio Tours and a student of Phyllis Shafer’s at LTCC.

Carol Brown uses the ancient moku-hanga process to make original woodblock prints with Japanese tools and papers. Japanese design, culture, and views of nature influence her images. In addition, she creates artist books and makes hand-made paper.

Jim McCormick, (1936 - 2017), artist and print-maker extraordinaire, taught in the University of Nevada Reno’s Art Department from 1960 – 1992. He continued his contributions to northern Nevada’s art community as Professor Emeritus for many years.

About 15 years ago, Jim founded Printmakers’ Conspiracy, an informal group of regional artists. Jim served as CCAI’s founding board president (2003 – 2004) where his knowledge, insights, and contacts helped forge the direction and success of Carson City's new contemporary visual arts organization. This group exhibition reminds us of his warmth, wit, and wisdom that touched so many of the artists represented in this exhibition.

The Capital City Arts Initiative is an artist-centered not-for-profit organization committed to community engagement in contemporary visual arts through exhibitions, arts education programs, artist residencies, and online activities.

The Initiative is funded by the John Ben Snow Memorial Trust, John and Grace Nauman Foundation, Nevada Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities, Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, Carson City Cultural Commission, Kaplan Family Charitable Fund, U.S. Bank Foundation, NV Energy Corporation, Southwest Gas Corporation Foundation, Steele & Associates LLC, and CCAI sponsors and members.

In addition, support has been provided by Nevada Humanities through Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the CARES Act economic stabilization plan of 2020.

For additional information, please visit CCAI’s website at www.ccainv.org