Juror’s Statement by Bryan Baker

“Beyond Language showcases daring, playful, and inventive approaches of handling typography and letter forms.  A viewer will find themselves being pulled toward and then away from brief understandings that are spurred, sparked, and triggered by the quick relay the mind makes upon recognition of these very special shapes.   It is only natural that after all of these years the art of printmaking still carries the torch for it’s greatest partner and eternal love – Letters. A letter can, with ease, deliver to us striking form, content, and even context; usually these fine things are strung tightly together with an understanding and usage of language. Within the bounds of art and design this need not be the only use for these uniquely versatile characters in the world of mark making. This is an exhibition of printed works that

"Luna" by Laura Ladendorf

find themselves made using these building blocks of communication, all of them structured deliberately not to be read as text, but rather understood as compositions.   A few pieces in the show take a path toward literally making illustrations with letters that have been whimsically liberated from their usual work of making words,  while other works arrive to use more abstactly and with a strange beauty that is ironically bound to them by their illegibility.  Many carry with them a physicality that drives us to a meaning though an understanding their rhythm, or  from speculations about their manner/reason of accretion.  Please enjoy this collection of prints and take the time to ponder what the artist shown here are straying from and moving towards.”