Join us on Friday, August 2nd from 6-9PM to celebrate the exhibition opening of Navigations: Etchings and Woodcuts by Stephanie Martin and April Vollmer
One from the east coast and one from the west coast, these two artists established a profound connection during the pandemic by visiting Santa Cruz north beaches together during that time of isolation. Watching the bird migrations and seasonal changes along the coast provided a structure to navigate the flux and change, a way to remain on course during the virus, the fires, and the ongoing vicissitudes of daily life.
Both artists are focused on the realities of nature, holding on to images of wildlife along the north coast as a way to understand a broader world. The deliberate processes of printmaking give them each time for thought and close analysis, a place to develop ideas. Vollmer works in woodcut combined with digital imaging and Martin in etching with aquatint, chine collé and collage.
Stephanie Martin is a Santa Cruz artist who brings her keen observation of California birds, plants, and landscape to her carefully structured etchings. Her prints retain the immediate and engaging character of her subject. The process of drawing the subject, then capturing the image on a copper plate can take many hours over weeks. Unexpected things happen in the acid tank, and the image always evolves during the printmaking process.
Martin has also created a suite of collages incorporating etchings, cyanotypes, and ephemera for this show. She has been fascinated by the type of decision-making this new medium requires.
stephaniemartinart.com
New York artist April Vollmer specializes in Japanese woodcut, hand carved and printed with waterbased color on handmade washi. This exhibition includes mokuhanga woodcuts of birds she photographed in Santa Cruz that she transferred to blocks to cut and print. In January 2024 she worked with the Mokuhanga Project Space in Walla Walla Washington to incorporate those immediate hand carved woodcuts with her architectural photographs from past European travels. She combines those dream-like interior spaces with woodcuts of Santa Cruz birds.
Vollmer’s interest is pattern and metamorphosis and her subjects are wide ranging. In addition to birds, she has incorporated insects, worms and flowers with images from her travels, bringing the contrasts of nature and culture into unexpected harmonies.
aprilvollmer.com
