Collaborative print features reflection on current events

“When the students left on break, they had no supplies or equipment with them. There’s no easy work-around. This was my solution to the problem. I really had to re-tool to teach this class,” Bentz said.

Bentz said the project, “Coronavirus, Superbugs, Microbial Ecology – The Unseen World,” was inspired by the work of Marilee Salvator. Salvator’s exhibit, “Growth Patterns Remix” was part of the 2018 Galaxy Series.

Students drew images, inspired by scientific shapes, on paper, then photographed their images with their phones and emailed them to Bentz.

“They are engaged, they are involved in the create process, they suggested the ink colors for their designs, but I am doing what they would be doing,” Bentz said.

The steps Bentz completed for the students who are not on campus include the following. She processed the images in Photoshop, increasing contrast in most cases and resizing the images to appropriate dimensions for a collaborative print. Then she transferred the images to plastic sheets using a laser printer and placed those images on light-sensitive emulsion on screens for 10 minutes to create stencils for printing.

It was a collaborative process in more than one way. Bentz asked work-study students for the Art program, who are still on campus, to help prepare the screens and to contribute images for inclusion.

When describing the method she uses to place each design on the print, she said it is somewhat random.

“After discussing the concept with the students, they agreed to trust me to make some aesthetic choices. I became a collaborator, too,” she said.

The overlapping layers of individual designs result in an overall pattern that many may associate with wallpaper or fabric. Once all of the students’ designs were printed, the large sheets of paper were divided into smaller sheets. Bentz said each student will receive an individualized monoprint with their design printed on top.

In addition to the collaborative print, the students are required to meet with Bentz on Zoom video conferences, watch videos she’s assigned, and post weekly assignments.

As a part of the course, the students in Printmaking I (ART 225) had planned to travel to “Embracing the Wilds,” a print show in Boulder, Colorado, in late March. Although the event was canceled, Bentz hopes that the CSC collaborative print will be part of the 2021 show. Bentz said Amanda Lewin with the Project Strive/TRiO program had planned to drive the printmaking students to Boulder. Lewin is a graduate of the CSC art program and contributed an image to the collaborative print.