Picture Of Pearls In Jewelry Box

Up & Coming 2011 review: In printmakers' show, image is everything

It would be difficult to be more innovative as a printmaker than Rhys Himsworth. Instead of carving a block of wood or etching a plate with acid, Himsworth has reconfigured a medical cardiograph machine as a printmaking device. You hold two wired paddles up to a face and they “read” its galvanic aura: The result is a black-and-white printout that looks a little like a cross between the Shroud of Turin and a photo with multiple exposures.

Himsworth’s machine stands in the windowless first-floor gallery of the Hunterdon Art Museum, part of this summer’s “Up & Coming 2011: New Printmakers Make Their Mark,” an exhibit of MFA candidates and graduates from seven East Coast college printmaking departments. It’s student work, but these 12 artists work hard to be as unpredictable as any international print dealers association show could ever be — like, for example, making heart-stopping images with a cardiograph.

So there are pieces like “Rebel,” by Christi Birchfield, made of methyl cellulose and dried flowers arranged around a piece of holographic Mylar, which sits inside its own shaped frame that is sort of like a polyhedron box with a glass cover. And there’s Donna Globus’ “Before & After,” an offset-printed “butterfly box,” a kind of origami in which sheets of paper are carefully folded together to make a decahedron; in Japan, this wannabe soccer ball is often thrown into the air and struck, so each sheet slips apart and drifts slowly to the ground on its own, revealing its separate printed message.

Perhaps the most successful of these multi-layered concoctions of various printmaking techniques is Montclair State student Vaidehi Kinkhabwala’s three-dimensional “dress” composed of printed papers and cloth, which Kinkhabwala has arranged decoratively on the wall like a Nike swoosh mark.

But there are examples of more traditional printmaking here, too, like Bruce Horan’s screenprint/monoprint images, such as “The Shell,” which shows a nautilus shell with tentacles poking out — no, take that back, they’re not tentacles but actually a tiny version of Guadí’s surreal, multi-towered Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona. And Susan Dreifuss’ woodblock print of chains hanging down a dark shaft at vertiginous angles has an energy all out of proportion to its subject, not unlike Helen Popinchalk’s prints of telephone wires and roof edges repeatedly overlain to create a jungle of wires.

Beauty Au Natural: Bare Escentuals - Beautiful in pearls kit

I am very passionate about staying "au natural" when it comes to make up, skincare, bath & body and more. I love searching for the all natural or low-chemical alternatives and share them here. I am not affiliated with any of the companies whose products I discuss or review on this blog. I am a customer and fan of natural beauty products and like to share the ones I enjoy with friends and readers. I am an artist and librarian who works at a state college while living in the capital region of Upstate NY.

I've been plagued by allergies and chemical sensitivities since my teens and have done lots of research and testing of natural beauty products. I am not an expert but am passionate about beauty and keeping chemicals away from my skin.

I am a big Bare Escentuals user so you will see a lot of BE here. I also love discovering other natural brands of cosmetics, beauty & skincare products and enjoy sharing them. I am not affiliated with any of the companies whose products I discuss.

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