East Wing Art Gallery

Spring 2024 Exhibitions, Gallery Talks, and Events

All exhibitions & events are free and open to the public

Gallery Hours

Monday through Thursday: 8 am – 8 pm
Friday: 8 am – 5 pm
Open during Theatre at the Mount performances
Closed February 19


Liz Bannish: 12 Years of Printmaking

February 6 – March 8, 2024

Closing Reception: Friday, March 8 from 5-7 p.m.

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Artist Statement

The medium of printmaking has sustained me well over the years, not only as a polite venue for my schemes and curiosity but also as a livelihood. It feels inaccurate to relate printmaking to my individual self, as to study it is to know it is a nurturer of community. Where printmaking has served as a vehicle for grassroots movements across history, it is also a protector that proliferates ideals of collaboration and mentorship. The facilitation of printmaking has even led to major discoveries in paleontology and chemistry. For all this, even lately, print to me feels more connected to humanity than to the market. Some of

print’s core approaches have remained unchanged for centuries. I find this appealing as an antithesis to America’s culture of convenience, as this insists that we retain value in experiencing friction and wonder in our work. Being in the shop is being present, responding directly to materiality and phenomenon. At press, you’re a little apron-wearing dot on a timeline in solidarity with great labor, great minds, and some of the coolest aspects of our planet.

My work always depicts flora and fauna, but it returns most often to the sea. Marine motifs feel instinctual to depict. Mostly in a way that feels comforting, not very cerebral, like barking at the moon. I love the sea’s animal odor, and that it is dangerous and humbling, and that it hosts a meet-and-greet with our oldest

ancestors. Waves, sharks, and salt feel safe and right for the ruminations that come to mind in the studio. These include thoughts about beauty and frustration with the status quo. Especially now, I suspect that I am bargaining with the sea about our eventual man-made extinction, ingratiating myself to it with heroic depictions of its creatures and triumphs that condemn the “puppet masters” of this wayward era.

Liz Bannish lives in CT and works as the Shop Manager and Collaborative Printer for the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, a nonprofit studio and gallery dedicated to providing public education on the art of the print. After earning her BFA from UMASS Amherst in 2012, Liz served as the Printmaking and Photo Technician for Smith College for five years and has trained with master printers at presses including Wingate Studios and Zea Mays Printmaking. She teaches workshops at various studios on subjects of printmaking, studio safety, and hazard communication. When not getting her hands inky, Liz is a volunteer SCUBA diver at the local aquarium and assists in the maintenance of their exhibits.

Instagram:  @contemprints    @lizbannish

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