Chatter in the Campo

student artworks displayed against a wall covered in flyers

Installation view, City advertising wall with linoleum cut prints on paper by Ariana Arredondo, Mai Deguchi–Kelly, Maddie Cannings, Mia Johnson, Major Mottla, Sean O’Neill, and Hannah Holton, Siena, Italy, 2023.

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The word chatter in printmaking terminology defines the noise or texture present in the background of a relief print caused by shallow carving. Piazza del Campo in Siena is the stunning public square and heart of the medieval city where day and night people gather to spend time together. The title of this exhibition is a play on the words, chatter and campo, which interprets the students’ experience of living and working among Tuscany’s greatest landscapes, art, and architecture.

The daily practice of recording numerous observations and subsequent reactions in the moment using en plein air drawings and frottage (rubbings) inside of lived-in artist journals became the content of a contemporary story set in the Middle Ages. Students translated their narrative by employing the ancient technique of carving a relief, and added a combination of historical icons with personal anecdotes that are presented refreshingly stylized and dramatic in the traditional block print. The work was printed by hand using a wood spoon, and this group of prints were previously hanging on a city advertising wall in Siena for a one-day pop up show before making their way to Austin.

Artists

Ariana Arredondo

Maddie Cannings

Mai Deguchi–Kelly

Marissa Devivar

Ima Esiere

Quinn Galloway

Victoria Gentry

Ashley Gutierrez

Jamie Hall

Faith Hilchey

Hannah Holton

Hayden Howe

Mia Johnson

Julio Martinez

Tejas Mehta

Major Mottla

Alice Nguyen

Sean O'Neill

Dina Orozco

Grace Park

Rachel Salcido

Elizabeth Skalicky

Lucy Urdahl

Efrain Vazquez

Madison Williams

Event Status
Scheduled