AMES, Iowa--Iowa State University art and design students will haul out the heavy machinery to create large-format prints with a road builder's steamroller on Friday, Oct. 27.
Using chisels and routers, the students--some in teams, some working individually--have carved designs on 4-foot-by-8-foot sheets of birch plywood. They will use the steamroller to create prints from the woodblocks on Friday at Rueter's, a construction and equipment dealer at 5815 W. Lincoln Way, Ames. The printmaking session will be from about 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. behind the main building. The public is invited to watch the printing process.
The challenges associated with carving, inking and printing large-scale blocks demand collaboration and teamwork, said April Katz, associate professor of art and design. Katz teaches the relief printmaking course and oversees the steamroller printmaking project, now in its sixth year.
"This is one of the largest, most dynamic and creative groups of students that have ever participated in the project. I expect them to produce especially exciting and engaging prints," Katz said.
Students in relief printmaking learn to work with high-contrast, black-and-white patterns and shapes. This year, the class has focused on the themes of portraiture and identity. Four teams of artists have created collaborative designs while two advanced students each designed and carved their own woodblock.
One team's portrait highlights their individual personalities based on a photographic journey. Another group's woodblock depicts a cluster of fused faces that share features.
The third design portrays the student artists as animals in a photo-booth film strip. The fourth team's image expresses each artist's personality in a tribute to All Hallow's Eve.
The two individually designed prints include an image representing the frustration one may experience when faced with overwhelming brain clutter, and a totem-pole design influenced by graffiti art and the student's own style.
In addition, the University Print Society carved a woodblock that focuses on the dualistic nature of conscious, intimate beings and their unification with one another.
The large prints resulting from the steamroller printmaking session will be displayed Nov. 6-10 in the College of Design's atrium, the Lyle E. Lightfoot Forum.