Reappropriation

Themed Portfolio Exchange organized by Alanna Austin

Description

Stories and narrative are the beautiful histories that we as artists tell through our work that the diverse cultural backgrounds each of us carry with us.  There is a very strong resilience in the work of those that I looked up to while I was learning my way through printmaking.  It's through those stories told in that work that drove me to look deeper at my own narrative to create work that was authentic to my being and helping those I teach resolve their own work. 

In this project, I am asking each artist to reappropriate the symbols that are held within their cultures and speak to their own cultural symbols, and to show the strength coming from their own narratives and symbolism in their work.  Just as the conference is entitled, there is an amazing power to print.  Each of our narratives have resistance, resilience and in our own way, we need to be the revolution of reclaiming the symbols that hold meaning to us.  There is a rich background to printmaking that comes from our beautiful relationship with layers which is the very thing that builds our rich histories we carry.

About the organizer

Alanna Austin is a printmaker and multimedia artist currently located Tyler, Texas originally from Boulder, Colorado. She graduated in 2022 with her MFA at the University of Colorado Boulder in Printmaking and in 2018 from the University of Colorado Boulder with BFA emphasizing in Printmaking, a BA in Anthropology and a minor in art history. Austin is the founder of the Western Wilds Collective that acts as a conference for artists to come together on a digital platform once every other year to discuss work and innovative techniques. Alanna Austin is the current co-editor of the Mid America Print Council journal. Currently Austin is teaching at the University of Texas in Tyler as a Visiting Assistant Professor in Studio Art and head of printmaking. 

Her main focus within her art practice is diving into the expression of mind and self through understanding dreams and memories past and present in relation to her family history and has been displayed across nationally in galleries across from coast to coast and internationally in Austrailia. Austin recently was featured in a solo exhibition at the Denver Art Museum and showed as the guest international artist at the ArtSpace Gallery in Inverloch, Austrailia. Austins work is in archives spanning the United States such as Norlin Special Collection in Boulder, Colorado, Matrix Press in Montana, the Bernard Zuckerman Museum of Art in Georgia, the University of Wyoming Special Collections and more. She has currently participated in over fifty portfolio exchanges and organized exchanges inviting artists from Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and more. 

Participants

Alanna Austin, Alejandra Carrillo, Jacquelee Chit Yu Chau, Marika Christofides, Izzy Cho, Maritza Diaz, Sarah Dittmann, Elizabeth Elich, Javier Flores, Chenxi Gao, Adrian Gonzales, Juana Hernández, Katheryn Horne, Jade Hoyer, Cara Jaye, Eve Kruger, Brian Lathan, Peri Law, Catherine Prose, Haley Takahashi, Britta Urness, Melanie Yazzie

Hours

10am-5pm Sunday

Location

Alan Lipson Gallery

Cleveland Institute of Art ground floor

11610 Euclid Ave, Cleveland

Wearing face coverings at this location is strongly recommended, and official protocols are determined by the CDC’s community level spread for Cuyahoga County. When community spread is low or medium, masks are optional. When community spread is high, masks are required. As of 10/08/2022, community spread is medium and masks are recommended. Being up-to-date on Covid-19 vaccinations is also strongly recommended at this location. More information here: https://www.cia.edu/about-us/safety-security/smart-return-to-school