As of October 1st, I started a 2 month residency at the Baltic Gallery of Contemporary Art in Ustka, Poland. I shipped a silkscreen over ahead of time and loaded up my suitcase with ink, squeegees, and an assortment of tapes. I arrived without a lick of Polish under my belt, but arrived nonetheless. With an empty studio space, I've transformed it into a makeshift screen printing space. From hanging string from doors and curtain rods as drying stations to taping the screen hinges tightly to the table or washing out the screen in my shower, each step has been problem to be solved. Most influential to the work is the use of tape though. Since there is no exposure unit and I've been having issues with the drawing fluid/screen filler duo...it has led me to choose only to create images with tape stencils. This minimalist approach to creating the work has led to minimal pieces of large color planes, bold geometric shapes and simple line work. The work itself is based around the patterns and shapes around Ustka's port and shoreline that I capture on camera and translate to print. I have also begun to delve into painting while here too as a why to "sketch" ideas on a smaller scale for prints. I also use tape to define where the paint is to go on those, similar to the printing process. The show will be installed November 14, and is open from the 15th to the 25th.
