The Oklahoma Printmaking Network is a virtual network of artists who identify as printmakers, no matter how traditional or conceptual their media and technique. The OPN was founded with the intent of connecting printmakers across the state. Initially an online listserv, the OPN started hosting physical events, including meetups, critiques and workshops.
As part of this mission of connecting artists, the OPN organized its first statewide printmaking exchange. 29 printmakers created an original edition of prints in response to the theme "Making Your Mark." This portfolio ranges in printmaking techniques: lithography, collagraph, monotype, etching, woodblock, silkscreen, letterpress, and more. Each artist interpreted the theme differently, creating a variety of subject matters that all showcase the diversity of printmakers across the state. Artists range from established career artists to students, and vary in location across the state, from Oklahoma City, Lawton, Tulsa, Norman, and more. The exhibition is juried by Catherine Prose, Associate Professor of Printmaking at Midwestern State University, Texas.
In part, this portfolio is a time capsule, and captures a glimpse of what kind of work is being made across the state. Printmaking is a broad term for several specific techniques, but also connotes an approach to artistic practice. Printmakers are craftspeople, with oral and kinetic traditions. There is a particular culture in the print shop. Bringing printmakers together, across distance and career levels, we want to see connections and collaborations form between previous strangers.
Printmaking is a democratizing media: it has long been used as a media for mass communication. This diverse group of prints shows the potential for art as a means to connect artists across geography and media. The Oklahoma Printmaking Network hopes this exhibition will introduce the public to the breadth and depth of printmaking as a medium, as well as share the works being made by artists statewide.
