About the Exhibitions
Opening reception: Thursday, October 11, 6 - 9 pm
Closing reception: Friday, November 2, 6 - 9 pm
Ten invited artists have been asked to produce work using a Roland
Camm-1 Servo, a machine commonly used in the sign making industry.
Though the participants have certain things in common as contemporary
artists and printmakers, the only specific thing they share is that
they have all utilized this versatile industrial instrument to produce
beautiful and imaginative new artwork and explore its possibilities
and limitations.
Under the careful guidance of master vinyl maker & NEXUS executive
director, Nick Cassway, they have all tried various methods and cross
uses for the equipment and material while reconsidering the notion of
digital versus analog process. Because the method of production is
specified, the theme then becomes one of collaboration and shared
process within a certain range of commercial print technology. After
scanning an initial idea, designs are vectorized (turned into discrete
linework) and then manipulated via Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop.
They are then cut by "Roland" into a vast array of vinyl films and
heat transfer materials. The results vary to the whims of each
individual artist, but the work all plays with exploration of the
possibilities of a newly accessible medium.
Some of the artists were chosen because they have had significant
design experience and the rest have an experimental approach to all
media with a specific focus on printmaking. The gallery then becomes
the site for exploration, intervention and installation. Nick
Cassway's brush and ink drawn portraiture is transferred into
large-scale images documenting his cohorts in different situations as
they blow him a kiss or flip him the bird. Chris Vecchio has
re-engineered vinyl to make it conductive for electricity. Candy
Depew's work astounds with her decorative bent, a perfect match for
this process. Peter Duffin's exploration of cryptic graphic language
and wood patterned vinyl film make an extreme visual dichotomy. Sam
Larson experiments with language and a 3-dimensional application of
cut vinyl and Alyse Bernstein extends her printmaking vocabulary into
new realms using heat transferred flocking. Matt Brownlee's tattoo
influenced designs are reworked for applications with the material and
process while Matthew Pruden does a new take with anamorphic imagery.
Nic Coviello continues his exploration of botanicals through a highly
charged graphic application and James Rosenthal may have taken the
theme literally by forfeiting some of his record collection and
writing with plastic on plastic.
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