As the sun shined on the Quad, the light caught the images of several stunning paint reliefs — carvings steamrolled onto blocks to reveal distinctive prints of different images. The exhibit featured many natural scenes, fitting right in with the widespread appreciation of the great outdoors.

The larger-than-life-sized portrait of Gucci Mane, on the other hand, stuck out a little bit more.

The prints were part of a final project for PRT 257: “Printmaking: Introduction Relief,” taught every year by Holly Greenberg and Dusty Herbig.

The exciting thing about the class, Greenberg said, is that it is different every year. Students bring together new themes semester after semester, and the art changes to reflect contemporary topics.

This year, the lemonade-loving rapper took center stage.

“We think he’s f*cking ridiculous,” said Matthew Kast, a fourth-year industrial and interaction design major and a co-creator of the print. “He’s such an absurd character.”

Kast and his friend, senior industrial and interaction design major Brandon Bridgers, developed the print together after Greenberg encouraged the two of them to participate in the exhibit. Neither were actually involved in the printmaking class, but decided to give it a try.

“It was kind of ridiculous,” Kast said with a laugh, reflecting on the final product.

The image features a dramatic, headshot-style carving of the rapper with a lavish amount of diamonds surrounding his face, an AK-47 assault rifle underneath him and his signature mantra, “Burr,” stretched across the bottom of the print.

It was the first relief print Kast had ever made, and it took he and Bridgers all of 40 hours to put together.

“It was actually pretty fun,” Kast said. “It’s really cool to see your image forming.”

Kast and Bridgers were not the only non-enrollers who decided to push up their sleeves and prepare pieces. In fact, a majority of the people who took part in the event were not students in the class.

There were seven total students in the class, Greenberg said, four of whom teamed up to work on blocks and three who worked alone. Therefore, a total of five blocks from the exhibit were from the class. The other 15 were from outside contributors.

Greenberg encourages outside participation, and appreciates the variety of students the art attracts.

This semester, one of Greenberg’s students is Amanda Temple, a senior wildlife science major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Temple is studying insects for an academic focus, and provides an interesting insight to the class with a clear natural influence in her work, said Greenberg. She also said she does not see many ESF students enroll.

“They come from all over,” Greenberg said.

She credits the enjoyment students get out of the class to the act of printmaking itself. Greenberg said with many design and illustration students, modern-day art curricula dictate that a majority of the artistic work needs to be done on computers.

While there are many benefits to technology, Greenberg acknowledges, there is still something to be had for allowing students to make art with their hands.

“It’s based in drawing, but it takes it one step further,” Greenberg said. “It’s the physicality of making that they love.”

Greenberg herself contributed a few pieces to the exhibit, several of them playing off of language in some way. Each featured urban settings with text across the top, mimicking signage. One read, “It’s all here now, are you?” while another read, “At the top of my lungs.”

She said she enjoys exploring language and using it in her pieces.

“I’m very interested in language and taking it out of its context and putting it in a new context,” Greenberg said.

One of her students, Jane McCurn, said she thinks one of the best parts of the class and exhibit is the chance to explore art not normally available.

“It’s really great,” said McCurn, a sophomore printmaking major. “We use a lot of artistic mediums that you wouldn’t use in today’s world.”

The wood boards used for printmaking are a specific type known as MDF boards, or medium-density fiberboards. It is a more modern medium for printmaking, Greenberg said.

In the class, students were encouraged to look at different forms of relief prints, including white line drawings, which became a source of inspiration for McCurn’s art. Her piece included a face with two columns of lines in the background.

McCurn thought the exhibit was a great opportunity for students and the art form itself. She pointed out how much more exciting it was to hold the event on one of the prospective student days at Syracuse University, something that happened as a result of postponing the event earlier due to the weather.

Said McCurn: “It was so cool to see potential SU students come over and check it out. I was really proud of printmaking.”

Published on April 24, 2013 at 12:41 am

Contact Chelsea: cedebais@syr.edu | @CDeBaise124