Print Matter(s) Exhibition Artists: Michelle Moode, Dirk Hagner, and Jamie Ursic

As mentioned in earlier posts, I am discussing the artwork and artists selected for the Print Matter(s) exhibition at Studio Channel Island Art Center. The exhibition focuses on printmaking and the refreshing and exciting ways in which California artists are using the media. Prints are something the general public and often artists as well think of neatly fitting within a rectangular frame, but that is not always the case. As always, it is great to see artists breaking the perceived rules.

Michelle Moode, whose on-line presence is through her etsy site Millions of Happy People, is a printmaker who loves to break the rules. A graduate of the MFA program at West Virginia University, who was originally from California and every happy to be back, Michelle’s art has a playful energy to it due to her process and the artist’s quirky nature. Michelle often works with found papers, other artists trash, receipts, and of course the tea bags from the ever-present cup of tea that she is drinking. Using these surfaces, Michelle creates a dialogue of marks and images that meander and grow across the page reacting one to the other. The conversation then continues into the form that also shift and wrap across the gallery wall as Michelle sews, pastes and constructs the final piece or installation into shape, shapes that are rarely square.

Working within the rectangular format, Jamie Ursic creates monotypes that often defy the rules of what should be put through a printing press. Jamie who has her MFA from Yale and has worked as an art’s educator for the Getty and the Heart Project, is interested in surface and depth and creates lush monotypes, by inking a plastic plate and then laying items such as rubber bands, strings, and yes the jelly bracelets from the late 80’s on top to produce a variety of textures and tones. Jamie’s work varies from playful and colorful compositions that suggest the most beloved of children’s candy to her recent work done on a residency in Italy where she worked to capture the colors of the Italian landscape and the history of both its architecture and topology.

Dirk Hagner like Jamie uses a printmaking process in a surprising way. In his works, Dirk creates a composition of words, a delicate concrete poem that seems fluid and light though the subject matters are often periods of history known for their strife and confrontation. The amazing feat is that the pieces are created with letterpress, a laborious and exacting process, where text is easiest to use in a rigid linear way. Dirk seems to defy the process in some regards in these pieces, while also allowing it to give the work a wonderful antique feel.