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Riverhead artists turn a road roller into a printing press

Artists in Riverhead, New York, used a road roller to press large carved designs onto paper and fabric at East End Arts Council’s first steamroller printmaking festival. Students joined the outdoor work while beginners used smaller presses indoors. The event accompanies a printmaking exhibition featuring 120 artists and running through December 13.

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Overhead view of two artists lifting freshly printed paper from a carved block beside a road roller's steel drum during outdoor printmaking in Riverhead.

A road roller presses the carved images

Artists in Riverhead, a town in the US state of New York, turned a road roller into a printing press on November 7. At the first steamroller printmaking festival organised by local arts organisation East End Arts Council, nearly 2 dozen artists worked outside its Griffing Avenue studios. They spread ink over carved blocks, laid paper or fabric on top and used the vehicle’s weight to transfer their designs.[1]

The event had been announced as an outdoor demonstration of large-scale printing, with opportunities for visitors to try printmaking themselves. Town highway superintendent Mike Zaleski operated the roller, normally used for asphalt and road resurfacing, while spectators watched from the sidewalk.[1], [2]

Students combine their blocks along a river

Students from the Rochester Institute of Technology, a US university, travelled to collaborate. Beth Coleman and 3 fellow students carved separate nature-themed panels linked by the outline of the Genesee River, which runs through Rochester. Their professor, printmaker Kayla Hall, prepared Big Mama, a portrait of her grandmother in Louisiana. Hall estimated she spent 90 hours carving it.[1]

Beginners print indoors as the exhibition continues

Indoors, beginners carved small linoleum blocks and printed on conventional presses. The festival accompanies The Print Continuum, East End Arts’ exhibition featuring 120 artists at its downtown Riverhead galleries. The exhibition remains open through December 13.[1]

References

  1. News sourceNewsdayRiverhead artists use a road roller to make large-scale prints↩1↩2↩3↩4
  2. News sourceEast End BeaconRiverhead schedules a steamroller printmaking festival↩

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