There are so many rich traditions of textile design that give us the incredible variety we see every day. This spring in Printmaking, students worked with representational imagery, using a variety of techniques to layer images to create depth and detail.

At the beginning of the term, all students designed a reduction print in order to understand the evolution of an image through that process. A reduction print is a series of layers printed from the same plate after increasing amounts of material is carved away in stages. This requires planning to decide what will be revealed in each layer, what colors will be used, and how to register the prints as they build up. Students printed a series of six in order to allow for trial and error, and to develop a small collection of one-of-a-kind images.

For the remainder of the term, students explored their own interests and methods. By using traditional techniques such as multiple plates, as well as unconventional approaches such as deconstructing plates and printing on collages, a great variety of effects were explored.

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