An Excerpt From the Portrait Series is on view now at Beautiful Little Things Gallery, 1415 Arch St in Berkeley.
![Jimena (Fort Collins, 2007)]()
In their final state, each portrait lives on its own and hangs in an isolated memory; each person’s likeness frozen from a moment in time past. However, in this iteration, sewn into an accordion fold book, each person, moment, and memory becomes stitched together, telling a story of my life through relationships and reflections. Something about the imperfection in the sewing and the variation in the paper sizes and the plate registration feels like a playful expression of humanity, while the final prints live in a more pristine and isolated form. Some of the prints have been shown before, but this is the first time for the book. It has otherwise lived in my archives since it was bound in 2009.
![Lauren (Boulder, February 2006)]()
In their final state, each portrait lives on its own and hangs in an isolated memory; each person’s likeness frozen from a moment in time past. However, in this iteration, sewn into an accordion fold book, each person, moment, and memory becomes stitched together, telling a story of my life through relationships and reflections. Something about the imperfection in the sewing and the variation in the paper sizes and the plate registration feels like a playful expression of humanity, while the final prints live in a more pristine and isolated form. Some of the prints have been shown before, but this is the first time for the book. It has otherwise lived in my archives since it was bound in 2009.
The Portrait Series is a career-long body of work comprised of nearly 100 intaglio portraits. All of the portraits are friends and loved ones drawn in a contour line style from photographs taken over the years. Each drawing was created as an itaglio print, meaning it was etched into a metal plate and hand-printed on a manual press.
Traditional printmaking is an iterative medium. A benefit of being able to reproduce the work is that it allows me to experiment and play with the various test prints and artists proofs that are numerous byproducts of creating the final prints. The book on display here is an example of that playful iteration.
Artist proofs are often not considered to be a part of a printmaker’s final edition of prints, but they are an essential part of the creation process. I believe that the beauty of artists’ proofs is in their imperfection. As the Portrait Series continued to grow and more proofs were amassed, the stack of prints invited me to look at the series outside of the traditional white box of gallery walls.
![Kimmie (Chicago, July 2005)]()
The Portrait Series began in 2005 during my sophomore year of college at Colorado State University. It continued through my Artist Residency at the Kala Institute in Berkeley between 2009-2010, (somehow) on the side through my graduate studies at California College of the Arts between 2012-2014, and onward to the present day. My goal for the series has been to compile a final total of 120 portraits. There’s no special reason for the number, but it has kept the door open on the project for me. The milestone number urges me to keep the project alive, continuing to immortalize loved ones and moments, and adding to the story.
Traditional printmaking is an iterative medium. A benefit of being able to reproduce the work is that it allows me to experiment and play with the various test prints and artists proofs that are numerous byproducts of creating the final prints. The book on display here is an example of that playful iteration.
Artist proofs are often not considered to be a part of a printmaker’s final edition of prints, but they are an essential part of the creation process. I believe that the beauty of artists’ proofs is in their imperfection. As the Portrait Series continued to grow and more proofs were amassed, the stack of prints invited me to look at the series outside of the traditional white box of gallery walls.
The Portrait Series began in 2005 during my sophomore year of college at Colorado State University. It continued through my Artist Residency at the Kala Institute in Berkeley between 2009-2010, (somehow) on the side through my graduate studies at California College of the Arts between 2012-2014, and onward to the present day. My goal for the series has been to compile a final total of 120 portraits. There’s no special reason for the number, but it has kept the door open on the project for me. The milestone number urges me to keep the project alive, continuing to immortalize loved ones and moments, and adding to the story.