Contemporary artist Jennifer Printz "Walking on Water" and "Drowning" hand-printed woodcut on Kozo paper prints are matted and framed in wood with anti-static, non-glare Plexiglass glazing. It's part of her Absence Implicates Series. Jennifer is attracted to methodical and laborious processes that connect the movements and touch of her body to the production of a work of art. Recently, she has directed her focus towards relief printmaking. By utilizing tiny gouges, she painstakingly carves large sheets of plywood, gradually forming an image by delicately removing slivers of wood. The complexity of each piece often demands up to one hundred hours dedicated solely to the carving process. Once the carving is complete, Jennifer inks the blocks and manually prints them using wooden spoons, meticulously transferring the ink onto sheets of thin Japanese paper.
Within the finished print, Jennifer incorporates figures inspired by historic illustrations, which subtly emerge and recede amidst a surrounding darkness. The deliberately chosen images delve into themes of loss and tragic narratives, seamlessly integrated into symmetrical inflorescent pattern designs. This fusion symbolizes the intricate tapestries woven by life, history, and culture, where goodness intertwines with adversity, and vice versa. The unfinished narrative aspect of Jennifer's work, coupled with the selection of images from religious stories, embodies the all-too-human reality of seeking answers while perpetually grappling with the unknowable reasons behind horrific events. Each piece measures 24” H x 48” W (Paper Size) and 34” H x 54” W (Framed Size). When displayed as shown in the first image, the dimensions are 54" W x 72" H. The framed prints will be shipped directly from the artist's studio.
About the artist:
Jennifer graduated with a BFA from East Tennessee State University and then completed her Masters of Fine Art in 2001 from The University of Georgia where she studied in Cortona, Italy, as a part of her degree. Printz was the recipient of multiple university merit awards and research grants during this period. Since graduation, her creations have been exhibited widely across the US and abroad including recent exhibitions at the Spartanburg Museum of Art, Chroma Gallery, and International Biennale of Prints in Portugal. She has participated in regular residencies in the US, at the Frans Masereel Centre/Flemish Center for the Graphic Arts in Kasterlee, Belgium, St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta, and La Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France.
Jennifer uses both photography and drawing as differing means to observe her world and she unifies them together to make poetic works that reflect the unseen structures of the universe. She has continued to be a highly awarded artist. In 2004 she was awarded a Puffin Foundation Grant, followed by a Dendo Fellowship in 2016, amongst many others throughout her career. Printz is also an educator who has honed her skills in a variety of classroom situations from museums to large public research universities since 2002. She has taught a wide range of two-dimensional media at the undergraduate and graduate level, as well as, public art and professional practices. Jennifer Printz currently holds a teaching position at Florida International University, located in Miami, Florida. She both lives and works in the vibrant city of Miami.
Printz' work has been included in publications as diverse as Tricycle and the Carolina Review. In 2019, her studio practice was included for in-depth articles in Peripheral ARTeries and In Her Studio. Her scholarly output includes papers given at the SGC International, College Art Association in 2009, and Southeastern College Art conferences in 2018, 2013 and 2011. In 2010, the Norton Simon Museum included her essay “Print University” in Proof: The Rise of Printmaking in Southern California. She is also an active arts leader, previously serving as President of the Los Angeles Printmaking Society from 2007-2009, the Vice President of External Affairs for SGC International in 2010-2012 and most recently on the Board of Directors for SECAC 2017-2019. In 2014 she was awarded an NCAA Emerging Arts Administrators Fellowship.
Her work is included in a large number of institutional and private collections in the US including the Ben Shahn Center Galleries at William Paterson University and Esther Allen Greer Museum of Fine Art, Rio Grande, OH and also in the permanent collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Art, Antwerp, Belgium.
The Jennifer Printz collection of artwork is part of ongoing collaboration with gallerist Ellen Hackl Fagan to showcase emerging artists.
