September 4-26, 2015

Under the Sun: Artists of Sol Print Studios
Curated by Sarah Tanguy

Under the Sun brings together 14 artists whose work explores the rich potential of solar plate etching and non-toxic printmaking as a means to convey personal aesthetic. From landscape to text-based and figurative to abstract, their prints brim with passion while presenting a spectrum of inspiration and source material.

Katherine Kavanaugh, Randi Reiss-McCormack and Oletha DeVane use symbols to comment on the human condition. In Kavanaugh’s Refugee Series I, spectral images of Afghani tents and camps evoke displacement and transience. Reiss-McCormack’s Looking for a Herd enlists the image of an anthropomorphized cow to upend the stereotype of a cowgirl, and in Underfriction, a fragmented rollercoaster spins out of control. DeVane channels her subject’s underlying spiritual meaning into a personal prayer, story or myth, as the transformation of a shimmering temple complex in Spirit House attests.

Mundane objects acting as human surrogates animate the work of Joe Kabriel, Catherine Behrent, and Ruth Pettus. In Kabriel’s diaristic Red Book Series, images of coffee cups suggest an oasis from the frenzied of everyday experience. In Entry, Behrent depicts some of her son’s toy cowboys riding into L’Heure Bleue, that mysterious time of twilight and transition. Equally charged, Pettus’ studies of worn shoes conjure the wear and tear of experience, as well as spiritual resilience.

Ruby Yunis, Michelle LaPerriere and Gloria Askin weave memories into their layered narratives. In works like Parallel Universes, Yunis seeks to bridge her inner world with outer spaces, using forms from sacred geometry to fashion a “portrait” of her soul. In La Perriere’s Waxing, nature and geometry converge into a liminal moment, where thoughts and feelings converse with weather and place. Updating the traditional still life, Looking for Perfection transforms Askin’s passion for travel, color, and flowers into a complex web of lyrical expression.

Ordered chaos lies at the core of Leslie Portney, Jane Eifler, and Ken Huston’s practices. In Asian Way, Eifler draws on personal engagement with popular culture to construct a rich abstract language embedded with human references. Huston’s conceptual works, including Target, and Power, distill words and form into potent, visual puzzles. In Expansion of Circles and Squares, Portney’s mark making achieves dynamic equilibrium through playful improvisation and formal analysis.

In the works of Christine Neill and Soledad Salamé, an interest in science and the environment add urgency to their quest for balance. Neill collects, and then transforms plant specimens into parables to address the effects of inter-species life on earth’s endangered habitat, while Salamé, inspired by her research at the ALMA observatory, abstracts images of telescopes into an energetic play of form and shadow to draw connections between our planet and beyond.

Sol Print Studio
Founded in 2009 by Soledad Salamé, Sol Print Studio is a facility in Baltimore, MD, dedicated to solar plate etching and non-toxic printmaking techniques. During residencies, artists can create prints, editions, and collaborative works. They also can develop specific projects, and are guided from conception to completion by Director Salamé or Associate Director Reiss-McCormack. Collaboration, an exchange of ideas, and high quality prints are hallmarks of SPS.