Sandra S. Wimer - Prints

Union College Faculty Exhibition
January 25 - March 11, 2001

Black Jack Oak, 1996, polymer photogravure, 3" x 3"

 

excerpts from an essay by Diana Quinby

Sandra Wimer began making lithographs in the 1980s. Drawing with lithographic crayon, voluptuous, dream-like landscapes emerged from the stone's finely grained surface. Once printed, they revealed a depth and velvety richness unparalleled by drawing directly on paper. Seduced by the methodical, physical process and its seemingly endless aesthetic possibilities, Wimer began to develop her own visual language, producing a large body of work in the early 1990s almost exclusively in lithography.

Since her initial discovery of lithography, Wimer has remained fascinated with the art of printmaking and has experimented with a wide range of techniques, including monotypes and intaglio printing with polymer plates. In addition to drawing her images on the printing surface, she has also worked with photographic processes, including polymer photogravure and photolithography. More recently, she has taken advantage of new technologies, combining and reworking text and photographs on her home computer. Advances in computer technology are enabling artists to create, manipulate, and print without having to lift a 200 pound stone or engrave a copper plate. By testing a variety of papers in her printer, Wimer has been able to reproduce prints of startling beauty, their "clarity, intensity, and depth of coloring" rivaling that of her hand-printed work. Wimer admits to being enthralled with both the artistic potential of the computer as well as with the speed at which prints can now be made. In traditional printmaking, the step-by-step processes required to produce an edition of either lithographs or etchings can take days, weeks, or months. With the computer, an image can be stored on a CD-ROM and the edition printed at a moment's notice. Still. Wimer doesn't consider computer technology as a replacement for traditional, fine art printing techniques but rather as a tool for enriching and enlarging the scope of printmaking. She also states that technical experimentation often leads to changes in her work, thus preventing her from becoming "too comfortable" with one particular process and inviting her to develop her imagery futher.
 

For the artist, these computer-generated prints raise questions about the future of printmaking and the need for traditional techniques. The equipment and programs necessary for producing large scale, richly colored original prints will only continue to improve and become more widely accessible in the years to come. However, Wimer has stated she could never abandon hand-printed lithography. Although the "clarity, intensity, and depth of coloring" of her computer-generated prints easily rival that of her hand-printed impressions, she enjoys traditional printmaking too much to abandon it completely. The experience of drawing on stone, coupled with the methodical, physical act of printing by hand are for her a necessary and inseparable part of the creative process. The tactile pleasure of manipulating drawing materials and the manual operation of a printing press are in and of themselves both stimulating and idea-generating activities. Looking over the ensemble of Wimer's prints, the viewer can feel her passion for the printmaking process in the meticulous crayon work, the delicately reticulated washes and the rich layering of ink. Her use of the computer reveals a desire to experiment with the new techniques as they evolve, combining them with traditional techniques in order to expand printmaking's visual language. A new realm of artistic possibilities is thus opened up which these recent prints only just begin to explore.

Locator #3, 1993, lithograph/chine colle, 8" x 5 1/2"

Locator #1, 1992, lithograph/chine colle, 12 1/4" x 17"