Greetings!
Welcome to CPC's October e-letter and 18th iteration of Flatfile Friday! First, we'd like to remind each and every one of you to GO VOTE. 'Nuff said.
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Flatfile Friday with Raeleen Kao
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On the third Friday of each month, CPC's very own Flat Phil gives you a peek into the drawers and other hidden places to discover amazing work by gallery artists that you can buy. This week, we bring you the gorgeously executed prints and books of Raeleen Kao, a self described "over-caffeinated amateur competitive eater, AKA glutton, and a fervid red tabby enthusiast". She operates Frozen Charlotte Press, a private printmaking studio in Chicago specializing in multi-plate etching. She is an art conservator at Joel Oppenheimer Restoration Lab, the Vice President of the Chicago Printers Guild, and serves on the Visual Arts Review Committee at Awakenings, a foundation for survivors of sexual violence.
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Sunday Best, 2-plate etching, 4 x 3 inches (plate)/ 8 x 7 inches (paper), $150
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Following Death, etching, 5 x 11.25 inches (plate)/ 9 x 16 inches (paper), $200
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My work is simultaneously an act of mourning and an analysis of women’s body politics stemming from outdated puritanical literature, mythology, folktales, and buttoned-up Victorian superstitions which contemporary society obtusely clings to. Women are portrayed as manipulative, their bodies and sexuality are demonized, and their roles in society are persistently relegated to motherhood at the expense of their reproductive rights. Even animals associated with women are vilified. For a long time I was fascinated with the Victorian perspective on death. I found refuge in their symbolism and mourning traditions in my attempts to cope with my own sickness and past loss. Over time, I began to loathe their stifling attitudes toward women, beauty, and death. Death is not beautiful. It is infuriating, traumatic, and an epidemical product of social inequality. - Raeleen Kao |
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Every Creeping Thing I, 2-plate etching, 9 x 7 inches (plate)/ 14 x 11 inches (paper), $500
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Every Creeping Thing II, 2-plate etching, 9 x 7 inches (plate)/ 14 x 11 inches (paper), $500
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Ill Repute, 3-plate etching, 7 x 5 inches (plate)/ 12 x 10 inches (paper), $400
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The masks, weeds, and hair in these works personify familiar tropes of female deception, unconfessed sin, and seduction. The overgrowth of memento mori-inspired hair and flowers are oppressive gardens still haunted by beliefs society has maintained for over two thousand years. - Raeleen Kao |
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Belladonna, 3-plate etching, 4 x 3 inches (plate)/ 8 x 7 inches (paper), $200
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Rebis, 4-color reduction woodcut, 14 x 11 inches, $200
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The Witch is Inside of Me
Hand bound Artist Book with hand colored etchings & letterpress, $500
(measures 9 x 3 inches closed)
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I started this book as a letter to my childhood self and the overwhelming number of women and men who were raised the way I was. I was taught from birth that purity was one of the greatest assets that a woman should possess. This childhood education on gender roles was further enforced by western European cautionary tales that condemned female sexuality and punished disobedience to a parent or husband with deadly consequences. These stories collectively defined young women as weak, fault-ridden beings whose salvation lay in the hands of men while older, knowledgeable women with power were cast as the face of evil. As a child, I obsessed over these stories and I always gravitated toward the princess, the obedient daughter, the undeniable protagonist in a world constructed with definite good and evil.
When I grew older, I learned that these principles were a combined reflection of my western-centralized and antiquated conservative Asian upbringing. The roles of good and evil are much more fluid in other parts of the world. In Eastern European stories, Baba Yaga can be depicted as an evil witch or a kind old woman. African and Native American cultures utilize the trickster archetype, which is neither defined by good nor evil. In East Asian ghost stories, which I was unfamiliar with for the first two decades of my life, spirits are often neutral or just mischievous. Equally as common are malicious spirits who are often women who have died from unnatural causes and are seeking vengeance toward those who have wronged them. In Chinese folklore, the nu gui (female ghost) harms men but only scares women. While western religions demonized witchcraft, many other cultures considered it to be a fundamental part of their medicinal practice.
This book upends the nefariousness attributed to curiosity, sexuality, and disobedience in females and imbues the characters who raised me with power by embracing the corruptible, dual-faced nature within all of us. - Raeleen Kao
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More Beautiful in Death, 2-plate etching, 8 x 6 inches (plate)/ 10.5 x 7.5 inches (paper), $400
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Black Salve, 4-plate etching, 7 x 5 inches (plate)/ 12 x 8 inches (paper), $400
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Left: Breast Pocket Zipper Club, 2-plate etching, 4 x 4 inches (plate)/ 8 x 8 inches (paper), $250
Right: Cure, etching and pearlescence, 4 x 4 inches (plate)/ 8 x 8 inches (paper), $250
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Untitled (Fan), 3-plate etching, 2 x 3.5 inches (plate)/ 7.5 x 6.5 inches (paper), $250
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Gorgon, etching, 6 x 6 inches (plate)/ 11 x 11 inches (paper), $200
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Left: Penis Flytrap, 3-plate etching, 4 x 3 inches (plate)/ 10 x 9 inches (paper), $175
Right: Marsh Milk, 3-plate etching, 8 x 6 inches (plate)/ 10 x 8 inches (paper), $300
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Sourdough
Hand bound Artist Book with etchings, letterpress, and chine collé, $600
(measures 4 x 6 inches closed)
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Raeleen Kao is a recipient of the Luminarts Cultural Foundation Fellowship in Visual Art, the Illinois Arts Council Agency Grant, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) Individual Artist Program (IAP) Grant, and is a Luminarts Newberry Library Fellow starting in 2021. Her work is represented by Bert Green Fine Art and at the CPC in Chicago and is in the permanent collections of the Kohler Art Museum, the Smith College Museum of Art, and the University of Richmond Rare Books & Special Collections. To learn more, visit Raeleen's WEBSITE.
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House of Baba Yaga, etching, 4 x 3 inches (plate)/ 8 x 7 inches (paper), $100
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Fifteen Weeks Gone, 3-plate etching, 3 x 1.5 inches (plate)/ 7 x 5.5 inches (paper), $125
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Mandrake, 4-plate etching, 4 x 3 inches (plate)/ 8 x 7 inches (paper), $200
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If you would like to purchase one or more of these prints, please email the studio and we will arrange payment and shipping (add around $20 - $30 for USPS domestic depending on size). The CPC accepts credit card, cash, check or PayPal. The gallery is now open by appointment, and we offer free, convenient, sanitary curbside pickup on most afternoons (also by appointment). We are in the process of setting up a convenient online scheduling app on the CPC website - stay tuned for that!
FLATFILE FRIDAY will continue to come to your inbox on the third Friday of each month. In November, we're very excited to share the work of Tony Fitzpatrick! ALL of our FF Features are now ARCHIVED on our website, where you can browse for prints at your convenience while we continue to fill orders and ship work out. If you missed or would like to revisit our past FFFs (Flatfile Friday Features), you can check them out:
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Due to high demand, and the uncertainties of the pandemic, we'll be rolling out new online courses throughout the fall and winter for those who just really like learning from the comforts of home while petting the dog.
For our online classes, we've devised supply lists with some alternative options wherever possible, so that you can stay on budget while improvising with materials found around the house. We've also heavily discounted the courses to make them more accessible to all. All courses are taught through live, weekly Zoom meetings and supplemental recorded demo videos. Get creative with us at home, from anywhere on the globe!
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PRIVATE & SEMI PRIVATE LESSONS (in person or online)
Interested in learning something new? Perhaps even w a friend or family member in your "pod"? Have you been dreaming about a project all quarantine? This professional instruction allows for flexible scheduling and a unique lesson catered to your specific area of interest.
SMALL GROUP CLASSES (in person or online)
Getting a small team of students together for a multi-week class is a great alternative to our pre-pandemic group classes. Organized upon request, these courses are a perfect fit for repeat students or individuals who are totally new to us but want to schedule something to get creative through the fall and winter months. We have a large database of students in every media that we can reach out to when we receive an inquiry to put something together.
CPC has implemented cleaning and social distancing protocols to ensure that our studio environment is safe for you and the community. Students will be required to wear a mask at all times.
Classes are available in all mediums, including: Etching, Photoetching, Lithography (stone, plate, and paper), Screenprinting, Relief (woodcut and linoleum), Bookmaking, Collagraph, and Monoprint. If you have a different project in mind, feel free to reach out!
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#PrintmakersAgainstRacism |
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We have joined printmakers all over the world in a global art sale to support the fight against systemic racial injustice. 100% of sales from our BLM, Silence is Violence, and Printmakers Roll w the Revolution prints will benefit the following organizations:
BLM Chicago
The Chicago Community Bond Fund
Brave Space Alliance
Campaign Zero
My Block-My Hood-My City
These hand printed posters are suitable for protest or window display in homes, organizations and businesses. You may also download and print them out for free digitally. Scroll down for pdf's.
To purchase BLM screen prints ($25), Silence is Violence ($20), or Printmakers Roll with the Revolution woodcuts ($50), please email us to arrange payment and schedule a curbside pickup. Big thanks to so many of you who have purchased posters, and for also supporting the work of artists of color. CPC has already donated $2275 so far from sales to the above organizations fighting for racial justice. Please follow @printmakingasresistance on Instagram! Other great instafeeds we are watching: @prettyininkpress, @dugoodpress, @tanekeyaword, @blackwomenofprint, @latoyahobbs, @blackboxpress..... check them out.
The CPC studio is prioritizing programming to address systemic racism and the general lack of diversity within the printmaking community. A new residency open to women and trans individuals of color is underway and we look forward to working with Octavia Thorns to create a series of screen prints in March 2021.
This month, CPC is excited to collaborate with Kyrin Hobson to produce and publish a lithograph that will then be sold to benefit The Southside Community Arts Center, a fundraiser spearheaded by our colleagues at the Chicago Printers Guild.
The CPC celebrates printmaking as a form of resistance, and is seeking partnerships with other organizations that champion current movements and educate young people. We are very much looking forward to working with Embarc this coming spring to provide virtual learning experiences for low-income high school students. CPC will also be offering an EXPLORERS experience via MY BLOCK•MY HOOD•MY CITY, also in the late spring of 2021.
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As CPC operates at a safe but reduced capacity, think about purchasing a gift card to help us stay afloat! These certificates can be applied towards classes, print purchases, work sessions, membership, and a myriad of other CPC services. Upon purchasing, you will receive a printable gift card within 24 hours (or it will be emailed to whomever you wish). There is a very small processing fee, but you can enter any amount. Easy peasy. Thank you!
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The CPC Gallery is now open by appointment! Visitors are required to wear a face mask. Hand sanitizer is provided throughout the workshop.
The 31st Annual International Small Print Exhibition will be a bit different this year due to the pandemic. We'll be opening the show EARLY on November 6th to give interested buyers plenty of time to browse the show while maintaining a safe distance and avoiding crowds. The show will have both an in-person (by appointment) and online presence, where you can purchase work while sporting your most comfortable loungewear. We're super excited to roll out 2 new and fun features:
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Printmaking Care Packages |
For $75, our CPC elves will send a printy fun pack from you to a recipient anywhere in the U.S., that features a print of your choosing (from 15 possible choices), along with a hand made card from the recipient (that we'll hand write and "sign" for you) plus other fun arty goodies like artist made stickers and screen printed cloth patches, a screen printed coloring zine and even a stamped envelope and thank-you card for the recipient to send directly to you. Shipping is included! Extras can be added for an additional cost, and the whole thing can be personalized. It'll be like a BIG GIANT PRINT HUG in the mail. More specifics will be announced soon!
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Curbside Holiday Print Pack Grab-n-Go |
Pick a print from our online Small Print Shop (coming soon!) and once you're paid up via contactless payment, we'll have it ready for you to pick up by appointment, along with a homemade holiday treat and a hot cider to go! Available December 5-20. |
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"Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time." |
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Ruth Bader Ginsberg
1933-2020
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wood engraving by CPC artist Eric Hoffman |
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We are so happy to have our socially distanced, masked, resident and member artists back in the shop working the presses and our private, semi-private and small group class students learning new print skills! For everyone's safety, studio time must be scheduled via the shared CPC Google calendar and only 4 artists may work in the main, front area of the shop at the same time, with an additional artist in the middle studio. The CPC is fully stocked with hand sanitizer, wipes, and disinfectant sprays for all work areas.
To view work in the gallery, you can schedule a gallery appointment by emailing the studio. All visitors are required to wear a mask covering their mouth and nose. Those interested in purchasing work in the gallery online may still do so via Paypal or credit card by phone. Please email info@chicagoprintmakers.com to make arrangements.
Stay healthy, be safe, and spread some ink.
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Chicago Printmakers Collaborative
4912 N. Western Ave. Chicago, IL 60625
Gallery Hours by Appointment
773-293-2070 | info@chicagoprintmakers.com
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