2015 residency artists
Toru Sugita @ The W.O.R.K.S.
I have been in charge of Printmaking programs at Diablo Valley College (DVC). I wished to improve my screen print technique and enhance knowledge for the program. The CSP Residency gave me a chance to work with Thomas Wojak, master screen printer, and printmaking professor at CCA.
We collaborated on two works: Morning Light, 20 ½” x 28 ¼” and Morning Light 2, 9″ x 12″. Both works are from multiple layers of primarily hand drawing and painting on transparency. I worked on transparency and Thomas burnt the screens. We discussed color planning on each layer. There were many oil-based inks mixed by previous artists who worked with Thomas. I opened the cans, which had the names of the artists, and modified them for my works. In a way, I felt I was becoming a part of the history of this print studio. We printed together with his large one-arm squeegee press, and each time we discussed subsequent layers.
Thomas is an art educator, so he explained each process precisely. He let me try, experiment, and digest in my way. Thomas is highly technical, yet experimental. He encourages interdisciplinary approaches. He and I shared about printmaking education throughout the residency. Thomas also has an archive of prints by resident artists and CCA students, which were available for viewing. His studio, W.O.R.K.S., is located in downtown Vallejo, which is near the waterfront. I was able to walk around and enjoy the old town of Vallejo, farmers market, and lunch at the ferry terminal.
What I learned in the CSP Residency with Thomas Wojak was invaluable. I am constantly sharing this experience with my DVC students.
Carrie Ann Plank @ Mullowney Printing
Carrie Ann Plank used her residency at Mullowney Printing, which specializes in etching, photogravure, silkscreen, relief, and letterpress, to explore a technique that was new to her: photo gravure. Plank began by working on large sheets of mylar with ink washes and eventually developed four large scale intaglio editions. The images, while derived from close scrutiny and observation, become abstracted and hard to place, leaving the viewer with a distinct sense of familiarity but no concrete object.
In conjunction with the CSP Artist in Residence project, Karin Breuer, Curator in Charge of the Achenbach Collection, acquisitioned the four prints, Scintilla 1-4 by Carrie Ann Plank, and the series are now part of the permanent collection of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts. The Achenbach holds the largest collection of works on paper in the western United States, and is the works on paper repository for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Carrie Ann Plank is a San Francisco based artist working in multiple mediums. Plank’s work is included in many private and public collections including the Fine Art Archives of the Library of Congress, Fine Art Museums of San Francisco, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, the Guanlan Print Art Museum in China, and the Iraq National Library in Baghdad, as well as corporate collections including Google and Genentech. Recent noteworthy solo shows include Themes + Projects in San Francisco, Bryant Street Gallery in Palo Alto, CA, DZINE Gallery in San Francisco, and Local Language, Oakland. Recent and upcoming residencies include Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT, Konstnärernas Kollektiva Grafikverkstad in Malmo, Sweden, Local Language, Oakland, CA, Edition/Basel: Printed in Cuba at the Taller Experimental de Gráfica de La Habana in Havana, Cuba, the Íslensk Grafík in Reykjavik, Iceland, and Edition/Basel: Printed in Basel at Druckwerk in Basel, Switzerland.
Plank’s work is represented by Themes + Projects in San Francisco and Bryant Street Gallery in Palo Alto.
