REGISTRATION OPENS:

Thursday, February 8 at noon

One of seven courses available for the May 9 – 12, 2024
MCA Weekend Workshop @ Haystack

Hybrid Prints: Exploring Collagraphy & Xerox Lithography

Instructor: Elizabeth Jabar
Haystack Studio: Graphics
Enrollment Limit: 12
Materials Fees: $50
Level: All Levels

Class Description:

This workshop explores printmaking’s capacity for variation and theme and experimental approaches to crafting the printed image. Participants will work with a thematic grouping of their drawings, patterns, graphic motifs and assorted materials to create a series of unique impressions combining collagraph and Xerox lithography techniques.

A collagraph print is made from a plate constructed of repurposed and natural materials adhered to chipboard. The collaged materials create a range of textures that can be printed using both relief and intaglio methods.The variety of different effects and variations in texture and surface is infinite depending entirely on how you use a host of other materials such as paper, matt board, gesso, leaves, fabric and almost anything with a texture that is flat enough to run through the etching press safely. Xerox lithography uses photocopies or laser prints as a matrix as a cheap, fast and effective means of printing images lithographically without the need for litho stones, aluminum plates, solvents, or acid. This method is excellent for creating layered monoprints and a quick way to transfer images to various surfaces.

The workshop will cover instruction on collagraph plate making and printing, including relief and intaglio approaches, along with all the steps of the xerox lithography process. There will also be an introduction to chine colle and incorporating various materials in the printed image. The workshop will emphasize the exploration of materials and experimentation with the printmaking process. Workshop participants will leave with a unique series of prints and a foundational knowledge of the techniques to inspire and develop future work. A materials list will be sent to participants in advance.

Materials List + Fees:

A $50 materials fee will be added to your invoice.

Participants in this workshop will need to bring the following materials:

Textured materials for collagraph platemaking: (plenty of options with the following basics!)

● Chipboard or mat board: can be incised, lifting off the top layer (don’t cut too deep). For a rough edge, nick the surface and pull off a layer.
● Assorted papers: Tissue, crepe paper, Japanese paper. Paper can be ripped, cut, scrunched, glued, or pressed into materials like gesso.
● Assorted fabrics: Lace, cotton, canvas, or any textured fabric or wallpaper can be glued to the surface or used as a plate surface.
● Natural elements and fibers: Other interesting materials can be string, thread, aluminum foil, leaves, masking tape, parcel tape.

Optional additional materials for platemaking: (Instructor will have a few things for folks to try)

● Paint & mediums: Acrylic paints and acrylic textures. Different brush strokes will create a variation of texture. Also palette knives and sponges can be used.
● Texture paste, tile grout, etc hold the marks of brushes or palette knives, etc very well. You can also press things like leaves or grasses or fabric into them. Experiment by either leaving them there or lifting them to see what kind of impression is left behind. I find texture paste is really good for this. There are cheaper alternatives but they all have their own characteristics and therefore you will get some variation in the way things print.

For Xerox Lithography:

● Black & white laser copies of images you want to print and make multiple copies of your images. There will be a laser copier in the studio but bring originals we can copy.
● Use high contrast imagery without a large range of grey. The process does not yield high quality continuous tone photo prints. The results are painterly and there will be image loss and “noise” in the print.
● Center your image on the paper. You will need white space around the image to ink the plate. Stick with 8.5 x 11 paper.

For Printing:

There are brayers & ink knives we can share but bring your own if you have them!

● Printmaking papers (rag papers & Japanese paper, other assorted papers to experiment with)
● Cotton fabrics-optional! (muslin is a good inexpensive choice if you want to experiment with printing on fabric)
● Inks: oil based etching and/or relief inks-especially if you want to utilize unique colors and establish your own palette. Bring what you have or purchase small tubes. Black ink is provided.
● Brayers: some supplied but bring additional if you have them
● Ink knives: some supplied but bring additional if you have them
● Basic drawing tools & brushes (student grade and/or craft brushes are fine!)
● Sketchbook or drawing pad
● Xacto knife
● Scissors
● Gloves
● Optional: Any tools, plates, material for Monotype if you already work in this technique.

About the Instructor-

Elizabeth Jabar is a feminist printmaker who explores a range of personal-political issues in her work including cultural identity, representation, equity and maternal ethics. Her practice is located in the studio, the classroom and the community where she co-creates collaborative and participatory projects with students, colleagues and community members. Her hybrid works on
paper and cloth display a highly personal visual language that incorporates motifs from popular culture, folk art, religious traditions and textiles. Elizabeth’s printed objects and environments embody printmakings’ democratic tradition of resistance and collective power and reflect her commitment to art as a tool for social change.

Her most recent social practice endeavor is Hinge Collaborative, a community arts initiative and printmaking studio in central Maine. The studio is a platform for socially engaged art projects, educational partnerships, and cultural events in local communities across Maine. As a place-based initiative, the studio aims to foster ongoing relationships, strong community coalitions, cultural expression and meaningful belonging.

Elizabeth’s works have been shown at galleries and museums nationally and internationally, including Victoria Arts Connection, Victoria, BC, Canada, Red Gher Gallery, National Gallery of Art, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Women Networking, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Pyramid Atlantic, Rhode Island School of Design, Long Beach Island Foundation for the Arts and Sciences, Colby College Museum of Art, The Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art, William Patterson
University, Hunter College and The Center for Book Arts, New York, NY.

Jabar’s work is in the collections of Southern Graphics Council, Peck School of the Arts, University of Wisconsin, Wheaton College, University of New England, New Britain Museum of American Art, Portland Museum of Art, Pratt Institute, New York Public Library, Lillie M. Klevin Print Collection, Bemidji State University, Amity Arts Foundation, Tides Institute, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and Maine Arts Commission. Elizabeth has received recognition for her work including grants from the Kindling Fund and the Maine Arts Commission, and awards from Maine Campus Compact, Vermont Studio Center, the Quimby Colony, Arts and Equity Initiative and Zea
Mays Printmaking Studios.

Elizabeth is the inaugural Lawry Family Dean of Civic Engagement and Community Partnerships at Colby College where she is designing an innovative program in community based learning and active citizenship. Prior to her appointment at Colby, she was the Chair of the Printmaking Program and Associate Dean at Maine College of Art from 1998-2018, where she designed and launched MECA’s distinctive social practice undergraduate curriculum, the Public Engagement Minor.