Alexia Makes a Styrofoam Print

Last Friday, my seven-year old niece, Alexia, had a Ped Day. What better way to spend it than experiencing Auntie Talleen’s printmaking pedagogy? I gave Alexia an extended, private version of the printmaking workshop I do in schools with the program Les Artistes à l’École. For the past 18 years I have been participating in this stimulating program that takes me to elementary and high schools across Quebec to give printmaking workshops. Alexia got a personalized workshop in the comfort of my basement, where our ping pong table regularly doubles as an art table.

Rolling ink

I started out by showing Alexia some of my woodcuts--early prints of underwater scenes. I showed her a carved wood plate and explained the principle of relief printing. Then I demonstrated how to print a linocut by hand, using the same printing method that she would soon be using herself.

Printing with a spoon

I let Alexia choose a theme from the packages of subjects I have developed for students over the years--insects, fish, medieval times, Chinese art, Inuit art, etc. She chose the African mask, one of my favorite subjects to work with during my workshops. We looked at photos of African masks, talked about their symbolism, and what type of ceremonies they are used for. I also showed her some real masks I have at home, including an elaborate metal piece I bought in Bolivia and a mask I made out of papier mâché.

At this point, after pumping up her curiosity, something I learned to do when I studied art education, she was more than ready to try her hand at relief printing.

Lifting the printed image

Alexia carved into Styrofoam plates, using a pencil. This simple and direct technique gives wonderful results. After carving, Alexia inked her plate with a rubber brayer and printed with a spoon. She printed several images, on different colors of paper. She was so thrilled with the magic of the printing process that she made a second print. This time she created a butterfly and gave it the ingenious title, The Budifly.

The Tiki Mask

The Budifly

I love transmitting my knowledge and passion for art. Working with Alexia has the added bonus that I get to spend quality time with her and share her world for a few hours. She tells me stories of her experiences at school, with friends and family and she knows how to make me laugh, and put an expression on my face that rivals the the most comical of African masks!

Talleen Hacikyan

Paper Dresses

In the beginning there was….recycled newspaper!

I’m working on a series of papier mâché dresses to complement my series of large format collagraph dresses. I’ve always loved the papier mâché process, from ripping newspapers into strips, to mixing wallpaper paste, to layering my work in progress with wet and dry pieces of paper. There is something soothing, almost meditative, that is intrinsic to the technique. As a printmaker, I have an affinity for paper, in all its forms and expressions.

Working at Atelier Circulaire

Women wear dresses to work, to dance, to marry, to mourn, to seduce, to celebrate.
I use the dress in my work as a means of revealing facets of womanhood. I am interested in the interaction between the inner and outer selves. My dresses embody aspects of essential being that women consciously or unconsciously reveal to the outside world.

Work in progress

In Building Blocks the sculpted dress-body is covered with shredded strips of my personal journal and strips of Japanese paper printed with children’s blocks. The mumbo-jumbo of indecipherable messages creates a discrepancy between the genuine self and the presented self. Personal reflections become adornment. These pieces explore the act of “dressing up” inner thoughts and desires.

Building Blocks, paper, wire, shredded diary, handprinted Japanese paper,
80 x 37 cm, 2010

I am presently completing several dress sculptures. This playful yet demanding act is accompanied by another activity that requires its own set of skills--finding a home for my work in a gallery. With each new application in the mail, I have the impression that you, the rest of my dear public and I are getting a step closer to seeing this ensemble of work in a majestic space with prisitne white walls, a beautifully varnished hardwood floor, a shower of natural light and a visionary gallery director who will promote my work!

Talleen Hacikyan

Photo of me at work: Nicole Milette
Photo of Building Blocks: Daniel Roussel

The Magic of Monotyping

On January 29, I gave an intensive one-day monotype workshop at Atelier Circulaire, the ultimate printshop. Not only is this a great studio to work in but it is a super space to offer a workshop in. Students enjoy working in a professional studio, alongside practicing artists, in a creative, as opposed to academic, atmosphere. I enjoy teaching here not only for the top-notch installations but also because it feels like a second home. This gives me the impression that I am receiving people at my place and contributes to a warm atmosphere in my workshops.

Josée Dubrule

I had eight students, from various walks of life, including an accountant, two teachers, a translator, and a couple of artists. Some people had made monotypes several years ago and wanted to reacquaint themselves with the technique, while picking up a few new tricks. For others, this was their introduction to printmaking. Regardless of level, everyone worked through the various exercises with enthusiasm and an open mind, eager to go with the flow and discover what their plates would reveal.

Carole Sirois

Brigitte Chabert Hacikyan

We started with black and white prints, continued with the addition of one color, after which students moved onto larger multi-colored work.

Mary Milne

Rose Wall

In the afternoon I introduced the encollage method, where one can collage a piece of paper onto the printing paper with the inked plate, through the press. I had a selection of printed Japanese papers that students could incorporate into their monotypes.

Students had also brought other paper elements for encollage, such as children’s drawings, marbled paper, and photocopies.

Susanna Oreskovic

I also demonstrated of how to make a trace print by hand, with water based inks, a non toxic technique that students can explore at home.

José Corral

Claire Côté

Students spent the last hour free to experiment and combine all the above mentioned techniques. Before placing prints to dry between boards, we looked at everyone’s monotypes and exchanged impressions.

Since the two monotype workshops I gave in January, two students are applying for Atelier Circulaire’s forfait découvert (a three month membership offered at a reduced rate), and several others are coming on “taille douce” Fridays. On these days, artists can make arrangements to work and print at the studio, on their own, under the supervision of printer, Paule Mainguy. When I see former students pursuing techniques that they learn from me, I have proof of mission accomplished.

Talleen Hacikyan