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In the Spring, 1939. Grant Wood. Lithograph

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Self Portrait, n.d. Howard Norton Cook (1901-1980). Woodcut on paper.

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Dos Tres Press, Alexis Nutini

We had the pleasure of visiting this press at 1241 Carpenter Studios in Philadelphia last weekend.  Alexis is working on one of the most ambitious collaborations we have witnessed thus far.

Alexis Nutini, born in Mexico, moved to Pittsburgh at twelve years old. Later relocating to Philadelphia, he has been a South Philadelphia resident for over 10 years. Nutini currently teaches printmaking at Tyler School of Art and Mercer Community College and maintains his own print studio. Nutini grew up with the tradition of Day of the Dead as a central part of his family life, experiencing the creation of his family ofrenda each year, and also as the son of a cultural anthropologist who researched the tradition across the Puebla and Tlaxcala region. Through his father’s research, he has traveled across the region and witnessed how diverse the tradition can be between families and between rural or urban communities. Growing up, he always appreciated the collective nature of the process of creating ofrendas—each detail, icon, and object a meaningful and intentional offering to the deceased.

Nutini’s process as the selected artist for Dia de Muertos at Fleisher Art Memorial in 2018 is based on the theme ofrenda de todos, or “everybody’s altar”. He aims to pay respects not only to the deceased friends and relatives of the community collaborators, but to pay homage to those who are often invisible or forgotten, like the multitudes of laborers of whom the country reaps benefits, but who are underrepresented, and the millions of immigrants internationally caught up in their own diasporas.

The process used to create the prints on this altar is a unique take that Nutini used for the first time to engage a diverse group of contributors in a collaborative process. CNC routing enables people to create woodcuts without the process of hand-carving. Using digital images, Nutini prepared the digital file to be read by the router, which the carves the wood blocks. Next, Nutini completed the prints using the traditional relief printing process. By greatly reducing the time and energy that would be spent hand-carving woodcuts, the CNC routing process enables collaborators to focus on their vision and is also accessible to contributors who cannot hand-carve due to disabilities or age.

Using this method, Nutini was able to get contributions from local artists and contributors who attended the workshops at Fleisher Art Memorial, including the Calaca Flaca Committee. The CNC routing method also enabled contributions by other artists of the Mesoamerican diaspora in places like California, because of the utilization of digital images. Also contributing are his friends and colleagues living in Mexico, and artists who post content to Instagram that Nutini contacted after finding their work on the platform. Nutini’s experiences with this method can inform outreach for other community projects in the future.

Acknowledging that every culture has a way of honoring the dead, there is enormous potential for collaboration for Dia de Muertos, which is on its way to being fully realized. Nutini emphasizes the importance and impact of the collaborative aspect of creating an ofrenda, and that each piece is intentional. To onlookers it may look Halloween-y or macabre, or like a scary assortment of weird objects, but behind each piece is centuries of cultural significance. The duality of life and death, ancient imagery that has been influenced by Catholicism, connections to the harvest, and the personal touches of a deceased relatives favorite tequila or pulque, all have their place on the altar.

alexsisnuntini.com

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-2 all’inaugurazione: quest’anno abbiamo fatto le cose in grande.. in mostra potrete trovare queste meraviglie di calamitine e un’altra sorpresa che svelerò domani 😊 #happy #printmaking #artistsoninstagram #xilografia #giapponese #japanese #woodblock #mokuhanga #magneti #calamite #printmaker #art #blueismycolour #mostra #personale #exhibition (at Borgo Medievale Avigliana) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrCnU9oHOls/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ob7adks91c1g

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Cyanotypes!

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A post shared by Mazatl (@_mazatli_)

🎥 Video del proceso de impresión de “Memento Morí” disponible en nuestra tienda web 🐖🔪🐖 🎥 Video of the printing process for “Memento Morí” now available on our web store. 🎵Hamza El Din - The Gondola 📷: @killchoy #mazatl #printmaking #linocut #mementomori #timelapse (at Mexico City, Mexico) https://www.instagram.com/p/BqbIPtmlOyI/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=rqzn69nzil22

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Some fake future ads to get us thinking about our t-shirt designs for future but not available products, companies, or other advertising needing activity.

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This past weekend I had the opportunity to check out some of the best works in contemporary and modern art at the annual San Francisco Art Market.  Seen above are some of my favorite pieces from the event, most of which were from the New Image Art booth.

Photos by JUNIOR V

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Happy with the way the CMYK Prints are coming along. Still have to figure out some emulsion issues....but all goes well.

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Mixing our inks for the 4 Color Separation...3 parts base to 1 part color.

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4 Color Separation silk screen print. Photo taken with my phone then ran through a filter. Took the image into Photoshop and separated the channels CMYK. Exposed onto a silk screen and printed.

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Or in printmaking it may help with registration.

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A pressure washer and some haze remover equals a clean screen.