Barbara Shapiro

Artist Statement

My prints emphasize irregular patterns, strong textures, a sense of movement or stillness, color and both visual harmony and mystery.  I live in New Mexico, and this environment is reflected in my prints:  a natural world that often overwhelms the eye, a world that often changes in a vista of open space, colored like the earth or the vegetation and with long views.  As I work, my process seems to mirror this theme of the natural change and mystery found outside of the man-made world.  Mysterious connections and intuitions well up as I work, and my printmaking tries to capture this personal experience of a connection to the flow found in the dynamic, ever-changing natural environment.

I love to experiment with combining different artistic techniques in a layering process on the paper, mixing woodcut, etching, linocut, collagraph, serigraph and chine colle techniques on different papers.  Sometimes, I will also draw or paint on the surfaces with watercolors, oil paints, acrylics, India ink or colored pencil.  I usually begin a piece with a plan, but the plan evolves and mutates as I work. This contributes to a sense of fluidity in my work.  I want people to share the sense of surprise I myself experience as I work through the distinctive marks and textures of the different techniques I use in each piece.

Biography

Date and Place of Birth: 1941, New York City

Education:

1978: University of New Mexico, Doctor of Laws

1973: Harvard University, Doctor of Philosophy

1964: Harvard University, Master of Arts

1963: William Smith College, Bachelor of Arts

Art Education:

2002-2008 University of New Mexico, courses in studio art

2007:   Master etching class at New Grounds Print Workshop with Arie Furumoto

2006:   Master etching class at New Grounds Print Workshop with Takahiko Hayashi

Non-toxic etching at New Grounds Print Workshop

2005:   Workshop on mezzotint; Workshop on combining collage and painting

2004:   Workshop on gravure; workshop on encaustic

2003:   Workshops on monotype and collagraph

1999-2002: University of New Mexico, courses in landscape design

Exhibitions:

2009:   Upcoming Solo Show, New Grounds Gallery, Albuquerque

2008:  Made in New Mexico, Wolverhampton College, Wolverhampton,          England 

           Made in New Mexico, Proyecto Ace, Buenos Aires, Argentina

           You are Here, Weinky Jewish Community Center, Albuquerque, NM

Pressing Objectives, Fisher Gallery, Albuquerque;

Imprints, Natural History Museum Café, Albuquerque.

2007: Metamorphosis, New Grounds Gallery, Albuquerque;

Imagination and Innovation, Weinberg Jewish Community Campus, Albuquerque;

The Feminine Touch,  Fisher Gallery, Albuquerque, NM

 Exhibition of Prints, Xi’an School of Art, Xi’an, China

2006: Self-Portraits, New Grounds Gallery, Albuquerque;

Two to Tango, New Grounds Gallery, Albuquerque;

Bowing to Intuition, Weyrich Gallery, Albuquerque;

Work By New Members, New Grounds Print Workshop, Albuquerque;

Print Exchange, Xi’an School of Art, Xi’an, China.

Collections:

Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM

Wolverhampton College, Wolverhampton, England

Proyecto Ace, Buenos Aires, Argentina