Interview with artist, Chad Andrews
BK: What initially drew you to
printmaking?
CH: I was a first-year commercial design major at Kutztown
University snooping around the art building, when I came into the printmaking
studio and saw my first etching up close, I knew at that moment that I wanted
to spend the rest of my life in a print studio. The next day I dropped my
Commercial design major and became a Fine Art major. I think what held my interest in printmaking is the blend of
technical knowledge and the artistry of image making. I vacillate between the two in my personal approach to art,
often I have an image in mind that leads me to a process, or sometimes I want
to work in a certain process that which leads me to an image. Between the two approaches I seem
to find a happy medium that keeps me thinking and working.
BK: What are you currently working on?
CH: I am opening a
printmaking studio called Paper+.
I just got back from picking up a letterpress that dates from the late
1800's and it is foot powered (a treadle letterpress). Paper+ has three presses
that do not incorporate electricity or technology dating any later than 1958.
Paper+ is all about bringing back the hand into art and original printing. No photo processes or computers
(output), just printing as green as possible. Reusing old presses, no electricity, and soy based inks;
... it is a lot different from when
I started printmaking where we were incorporating the computer into everything.
I am starting an Etsy site called Studio Paper Plus, which sells only prints
from area artists who pull their prints from Paper+; all profits go back into
the studio. I have a two person
exhibition at Gallery Plan B in Washington DC, in September, so I am busy
making my own work as well.
BK: Tell us about your experience of
teaching the silkscreen workshop at William and Mary?
CH: I thought the
experience was great. I could have
easily spent a full semester with what I wanted to cover. The intensity and energy of the class
was fantastic. The teaching was a
long three days and the critique was way too fast. But the output of student work was quite remarkable. Initially, I was not sure if the
expectations were too much, but when I arrived for the final critique, I was
surprised with the amount and diversity of work. The self-motivation, engagement, and confidence that
the students showed during this project were remarkable.
