Fiddleheads
“Fiddleheads” [Letterpress, Yellow Ink, Cyanotype, Plant Matter, & Stencil + Spray Paint on Cotton;
Letterpress, Yellow Ink, Stencil + Spray Paint on Cardstock]
Guarda l@s Niñ@s
“Guarda l@s Niñ@s” [Letterpress & Red Ink on Cotton]
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Guarda l@s Niñ@s Installation
GUARDA LAS NINAS MANIFESTO
FEATURED IN EMERGENCY INDEX VOL 9
Installation [six poster-sized letterpress broadsides, wood type with red ink, with one floodlight, installed on plate glass windows separating print studio from letterpress studio, University of Louisville, playing background audio of “We Shall Overcome” in Spanish on loop, through a speaker near the door, playing audio performance of title poem on loop, through MacBook displaying I.C.E. Detention Facilities locator, with one lamp]
The New McColossus
“The New McColossus” [Pressure-Print, Letterpress, & Copper Ink on Asian Paper + Cardstock]
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Ozymandias
“Ozymandias” [Laser-Cut Woodblock, Letterpress, & Black Ink on Cotton Paper]
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Ozymandias 45
“Ozymandias 45” Collage [Pressure-Print, Letterpress, & Copper Ink on Cardstock + Laser-Cut Woodblock, Letterpress, & Black Ink on Cotton Paper + gouache selections from The Republic]
Reversing the River
“Reversing the River” Artist Proof [Letterpress Embossment on Cotton Paper]
REVERSING THE RIVER Manifesto
Reversing the River from Eric Shoemaker on Vimeo.
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“Reversing the River” Performance Art Documents
“Reversing the River” Performance: Tracing Paper with India Ink poems dissolved in water in a glass vase, surrounded by mirrors and lighting instruments; captured as photographic stills
Documentation/Film Stills [Performance Stills overlaid and solarized in Photoshop]
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“Reversing the River” Prints
“Reversing the River” Prints [Letterpress Embossment & Oil on Cotton; Letterpress Embossment, Cyanotype Dye, & Trash exposed on Cotton]
Artist Statement
My work as a printmaker and installation designer asks the viewer to look closely at social and political realities. I say realities because there are multiple accepted “reals” in everyday life: the personal reality of food and money, the social media reality, the news reality of what grabs attention, and the reality others experience in crisis or trauma.
I am particularly interested in a variation on others’ reality— that is, the reality we imagine others in crisis to be taking part in. This crisis reality is interesting in part because we the average viewer often feel that we are already in this reality, whether because we are imagining crises, or we experience mental and physical crises, or because we empathize with those in crisis.
I believe we are always already a part of crisis if we choose to open our eyes; by the same token, we are, as art viewers, often privileged to step away from crisis in order to feel safe and secure. Those who cannot step away from crisis are not interested in artistic representations of crisis. My work invites us to feel less safe and to interface with crisis reality, which is always already happening. Whether it’s the crisis of immigration in the United States or the global climate crisis, small personal food crises or political representation as crisis, we are a part of happenings beyond our physical proximity as much as we are part of those that envelop us literally. My installation and printmaking work invites the viewer to step into a different envelope to enhance empathy and increase awareness.
4/9/19
Robert Eric Shoemaker 