The Political Ecology of Printmaking

Panel chaired by Lisa Matthias

Description

This panel will investigate some of the ways contemporary artists are confronting nature and the environment through the lens of printmaking. Printmaking and ecology each concern themselves with social and political change. When combined, how does the interdisciplinarity of contemporary print and ecology help in the global protest against corporate ownership of nature? The unification of art and ecology is a vital area of investigation that raises numerous questions for discussion. Does it help us move toward sustainable change to view nature as a separate entity worthy of its own legal rights? Is it better to think of the earth in a post-natural sense, as a part of a larger web of post-humanist interactions that include both biological and technological? How can biopolitics through visual art contribute to a redistribution of power and agency? How do printmakers engage and visualize ecological politics as we bear witness to and protest today’s environmental and ecological crises? What are the mechanisms through which printmakers can bring about environmental change through their artwork?

About the chair

Lisa Matthias is an artist, art educator, and ecologist from Alberta, Canada. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in printmaking (University of Alberta), a Master of Science in plant ecology (University of Manitoba), and a Bachelor of Science in biology (University of Guelph). Her environmentalism and love of nature has driven each of her career paths as a biologist and artist. Her artwork draws from her experiences as an ecologist and has been exhibited in Canada, the US, and internationally.

Panelists

Acadia Kandora is a printmaker, educator, rock collector, and nature enthusiast. She holds an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Arkansas and a BFA with concentrations in Graphic Design and Sculpture from Shepherd University. She has exhibited nationally and internationally in cities such as Baltimore, Indianapolis, Bentonville, and Korpo, Finland. Her work explores her relationship to nature, the idea of nature as armor, nature as sanctuary, and the intersection between the imaginary and the concrete. She is currently a full-time printmaking instructor at the University of Arkansas.

Arron Foster received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Printmaking and Art Education from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC and his Master of Fine Arts degree in Printmaking and Book Arts from the University of Georgia, Athens Georgia. He has exhibited both nationally and internationally and has held academic appointments at the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia; Kent State University, Kent, Ohio; Ohio University in Athens, Ohio; and the University of Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio. Arron is currently an Assistant Professor of Art at Kent State University at Stark.

Amanda Lilleston is a visual artist living in Maine. Her work depicts a long and evolving relationship with human anatomy, physiology and ecology. Most of her creative ideas stem from experience working as a Wilderness EMT and as a lab technician in Anatomical Sciences at University of Michigan. She received her MFA from University of Michigan and a BA in biology from Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO. Amanda shows her print collages nationally and internationally.

Colin Lyons received his BFA from Mount Allison University and MFA from University of Alberta. Fusing printmaking and site-specific installation, Lyons’ work employs the chemistry and rituals of printmaking to reflect on geoengineering, extraction, alchemy, and brownfield rehabilitation. In recent years, he has participated in residencies at MacDowell, Frans Masereel Centrum, Rabbit Island, the Grant Wood Colony, Klondike Institute of Art & Culture, and Kala Art Institute. His most recent site-based projects have been located in sacrificial landscapes such as tailing piles, decommissioned landfills, remote islands, historic canal infrastructure, and urban brownfields. He is currently an assistant professor at Binghamton University.

Time

2-3:30pm Saturday

Location

Kent State University School of Art

Center for Visual Arts (CVA)

Room 255

Wearing face coverings and being up-to-date on Covid-19 vaccinations are strongly recommended at this location.