Every other year, Mississippi State University’s talented art department faculty puts on their very own art show on campus. It’s a great opportunity to share with co-workers, students, and the rest of the public what we do and are interested in as artists outside of teaching in our classrooms. It was my first opportunity to participate last fall.
In graduate school around 2013, I made a piece called “Childhood Home #1” featuring imagery of the house I grew up in until I was 5 years old, though at the time abandoned in appearance with broken windows and weeds overtaking it. It is now just a memory, as it was torn down shortly after I completed the piece. All paper except the white background was hand-recycled by me. Then I printed the imagery using a lithographic process, and finally collaged the pieces together.
I used the upcoming faculty show as an opportunity to experiment remaking the composition using paper that was entirely hand-recycled by me, and printed the imagery using my Epson inkjet printer while trying to recreate the worn appearance.
The latter version was a bit more colorful, but I was still pleased with the outcome. Learning the process of digital manipulation to inkjet printer output was valuable for personal projects I am planning to pursue in the future.
You can read MSU’s promotional article HERE and view photos from the faculty exhibition reception HERE.
Brittany Spencer // Papermaking & Graphic Design 