Uncommon Prints x Common Matrices juried by Cathie Ruggie Saunders was a group exhibition featuring the artwork of 27 women and non-binary artists exploring the concept and techniques of a transfer in unexpected ways and across mediums.
As a traditional printmaking convention, a matrix is a master surface from which to make an impression. Typical matrices are wood, Bavarian limestone or aluminum plates, copper or zinc, and a silkscreen frame and stencils.This exhibition opens up the traditional practice to highlight the common methods of “transferring a mark.” From fingers, handprints, using earth pigments and plant berries, Uncommon Prints x Common Matrices underlines the artistic encounter by women with the everyday and reveals lasting impressions.
There is no fear in using oneself as a matrix, whether it be one’s face with cosmetics, or one’s torso with graphite. Identity as revealed in one’s visage or the fecund powers of the female body, are put forth in a vulnerable yet strident manner, witnesses to the belief that we each have something unique to say and share. With touch (pressure) being a critical component of printmaking, the selected prints in this exhibit indeed come from a deep point of contact, one that both touches the artist and the viewer.”
Exhibiting Artists:
Natalie Boyett
Mia Brown-Seguin
Savannah Bustillo
Teresa Castaneda
Martha Chiplis
Hellen Colman
Kathleen Greco
Kayla Haugen
Clarissa Jakobsons
Regina Durante Jestrow
Millicent Kennedy
Shama Kipfer-Tessler
Hava Liebowitz
Hannah Jo Malaczynski
Lacey Minor
BettyAnn Mocek
Lisa Nelson Raabe
Nirmal S Raja
bonnie ralston
Gina Lee Robbins
Ciel Rodriguez
sue scanlon
Jacqueline Valdez
Anahi Velazquez Torres
Carla Winterbottom
Chandra Wu
Chunbo Zhang

About the juror : Cathie Ruggie Saunders is an artist, educator and mentor. She currently teaches in the Visual Communication Design Department at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is the Chair of the Art and Design Department at Saint Xavier University, Chicago IL. She holds an MFA and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BA from the Northwestern University. Her work has been displayed in exhibitions held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Temari Center for Asian & Pacific Fibers, Honolulu, Hawaii; American Cultural Center, New Delhi, India, World Print Competition, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Footprint: Northwest International Small Format Print Exhibition. Seattle, WA.
Banner Image: Ciel Rodriguez,“because i don’t tell you enough,” he wrote to me, (2020), cyanotype, letterpress text with homemade graphite ink, lip balm impression, kissed by the artist, 17 x 21 in. (framed).