MAPC Outstanding Printmaker

       The Mid America Print Council’s Outstanding Printmaker, Deborah Maris Lader currently has an exhibition inside Indiana University Southeast’s Barr Gallery. The prints within the exhibition in the Barr are all kept to a certain theme tying human nature and emotion to the idea of nature and specifically birds and flight. There were a total of 34 prints created from 2010-2016 spanning from small to large. While some were intricately beautiful, others were a bit underwhelming.

      One print that happened to stand out was the work Limbs. Its difference in size, style, and technique is one of the many things that make it a memorable piece. Limbs is the largest work displayed, it stretching the wall's length and easily seen from across the room as you walk in. This piece is also the only one not within a frame, which really allows it to breathe unlike the other prints. It is able to branch out both literally and figuratively with the branches on the piece. This print is also a woodcut unlike most of the other prints in the exhibition that are etchings. This allows the work to take on a different feel; it is not as delicate and soft as the other prints, its deep lines and deep contrast allows the work to appear bolder and speak to the viewer on a different level. The print itself consist of 3 female figures standing, laying, and hanging within a mysterious place covered in branches. Their arms, hair, and bodies twist with the branches, making it harder to tell where the bodies end and the tree begins. This work was intentionally made to appear like this to tie into the overall dreamlike feel as well as convey the overall meaning of the tie between humans and nature. This print also looks somewhat familiar as it reflects some of the renaissance works with the way the figures are drawn and placed within the composition, they are correct in enough convincing ways but also look somewhat abstracted as well. The artist successfully convinces the viewer through the spindly branches that the tree is a living and breathing creature just like the spindly figures. While this may seem like an odd piece to be within the show as it is so different from the other works, it is definitely one of the better pieces there and the differences only allow the work to be stronger.

Limbs

Top left to Bottom Right: Mother, Barely Bird, Waxwing, Touchdown

      However, there were prints that did not seem to be as impressive, which were a set of four prints titled Mother, Waxwing, Touchdown, and Barely Bird. Mother has a warm background that shows a mother bird with multiple small eggs within a nest. Waxwing portrays a waxwing bird seated on a branch of a tree that appears to also look like the nervous system of the human brain, a faint human face coming through from the background. Touchdown also has the warm background of Mother but depicts a crane or heron about to land. Lastly, Barely Bird is very faint in line weight and is of a small bird perched on top of a woman’s head. All four were etchings/chine collie; they were all technically well done and had beautifully delicate lines and detail that one probably could not have been able to create in another printing process. Unfortunately, that was the only notable trait about these prints. The works were probably no larger than 5x5 in size and were placed in rather heavy and visually overwhelming black frames to be displayed in. A smaller, more delicate frame might have lent itself to the work and tied in a little finer with the size and delicate lines used within the prints. They were also very simple in subject matter compared to the rest of the show, making it seem less like it belonged in the exhibition and more along the lines of artwork you would find displayed within someone’s home: technically beautiful but not a lot of thought needed in analyzing the work. This disconnect is seen as these works show no apparent extra layers of depth, just simple nice drawings of birds. The other works seem to function in a dreamlike state or a state of consciousness while also utilizing birds, causing them to be more thought provoking. With the combination of human features, attributes, and nature Waxwing was the only print within these four to fit more in line with the rest of the show.

Through the use of figures and nature, Deborah Maris Lader allows the viewer into an interesting dream space of prints that seem intimate but relatable to all viewers. While some were very successful in this, others seemed to be a bit disconnected with the overall feel trying to be established. To see even more of the beautiful etchings by the MAPC's Outstanding Printmaker head to the Barr Gallery, there is sure to be a print there that will connect and stay with any viewer.

- Ashleigh Morton