UVU professor and visual artist Nancy Steele- Makasci is our highlighted artist this week. You can view her piece online as part of the UVU Museum of Art’s 2022 Faculty Art Exhibition.
Medusa's Revenge by Nancy Steele Makasci, from the 2022 Faculty Art Exhibition
Steele-Makasci's print represents Medusa, a monster from Greek mythology. Medusa was said to resemble a woman but with two terrifying qualities. Instead of hair, her head was covered in venomous snakes—and looking into her eyes would turn you to stone. Notice how the artist has made one of Medusa’s irises into a spiral. Is it a symbol of her magical power? Steele-Makasci uses this famous image to send her own message. The title, Medusa’s Revenge (not to mention Medusa’s steely expression), might be a comment on gender and/or economic inequalities and a call for change.
Our project is a collagraph print. One way to make a print is to press paper against a surface with ink on it, often called a printing plate. A printing plate is like a big stamp: ink on the raised parts of the surface sticks to the paper, but ink in the low parts stays on the plate. The collagraph process starts with making a 3D collage by gluing textured materials to a flat surface. To make your own, you can use cutout pieces of cardboard and any other materials you have around. The collage becomes a printing plate that you can use to make prints.
Our theme for this project is winter—a memory of winter or an emotion you associate with winter. To practice a principle of design, try arranging your wintry materials in a symmetrical pattern (a mirror image—the same on both sides).
This project is meant to provide simple creative tools to further your artistic growth. For further inspiration, we encourage you to explore the work of other printmakers like Jyoti Bhatt, Elizabeth Catlett, and Barbara Jones-Hogu.
Our project is a collagraph print. One way to make a print is to press paper against a surface with ink on it, often called a printing plate. A printing plate is like a big stamp: ink on the raised parts of the surface sticks to the paper, but ink in the low parts stays on the plate. The collagraph process starts with making a 3D collage by gluing textured materials to a flat surface. To make your own, you can use cutout pieces of cardboard and any other materials you have around. The collage becomes a printing plate that you can use to make prints.
Our theme for this project is winter—a memory of winter or an emotion you associate with winter. To practice a principle of design, try arranging your wintry materials in a symmetrical pattern (a mirror image—the same on both sides).
This project is meant to provide simple creative tools to further your artistic growth. For further inspiration, we encourage you to explore the work of other printmakers like Jyoti Bhatt, Elizabeth Catlett, and Barbara Jones-Hogu.
Our Example: Looking for the Perfect Tree
We cut out pieces of cardboard and glued them to a larger piece of cardboard. Then we pressed the point of a chopstick into the cardboard to add more texture and detail. We covered the collagraph printing plate with black ink and pressed it against a piece of paper to transfer the design. Last, we added background to the print using a paintbrush and ink.
Check out today’s #CreateClub project and be inspired!