Printmaking

My most profound experience in printmaking was when I was chosen to participate in the INTERNATIONAL PRINTMAKING EXCHANGE: L A HAVANA Project. MOLAA, in partnership with Self Help Graphics & Art (SHG) and the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, sent five Los Angeles artists to the Taller Experimental de Gráfica in Havana, Cuba in October 2015 for a one week printmaking exchange—the first of its kind. Los Angeles artists include: (myself) Margaret ‘Quica’ Alarcón, Rogelio Gutierrez, Dalila Paola Mendez, Delilah Montoya, Erin Miyo Stevens, and Ernesto Yerena. In January 2016, SHG will host Cuban artists Yamylis Brito, Carlos del Toro, Dairén Fernández, Aliosky García and Octavio Irving.

I have a great appreciation for the time and complexity involved in the art of printmaking. To produce a print takes time and forethought about how each mark is made. Depending on the method of choice, this complex process allows the work to be reproduced by hand and yet each reproduction can be named as unique. The use of printmaking as a tool for resistance and empowerment in the Chicano/a art movement of the 60’s and 70’s that continues to the present, inspires me to work in this medium. It is part of my people’s legacy. I enjoy working with the art of relief printing when I need a break from painting.