20/20 Vision, Second Edition

The Art of Contemporary University Printmaking

Megan Boling

"Cling to, now scarce" represents the first in a series of relief "portraits" I began a little over a year ago. It was at this time that I kept being drawn to, almost haunted, by the work of portrait artists like Mike Disfarmer and Diane Arbus. Admittedly portraiture, as a genre within fine art, sits somewhere between hackneyed and over-saturated, so how was it that these works were so affecting? I think a successful work of art creates an awareness of connection, of being human, no matter on what scale. Disfarmer and Arbus accomplished that. Sifting through their portraits sparks a dialogue between what my eyes see and what my insides digest.

When creating a portrait, by means of drawing or photography, you are capturing a subject within a setting. The setting can have as much visual potential as the person. Together, the setting and subject create an anthropological stage scene, giving the viewer clues about when and where and why. I believe my process for making these "portrait prints" parallels that of a portrait photographer. It is important that my figures come across not as characters, but as real people within their own space. Their pulse is the rattle of the paper- their emotion is conveyed in ink. There is a delicate relationship I form with the people inside my portraits. I always feel a sense of shared ownership.