Innovative printmaker at UB for CAI residency

Acclaimed printmaker Stella Ebner, whose work has been exhibited and collected in museums across the country, will make presentations on Feb. 18 and March 3 as part of her residency in UB’s Creative Arts Initiative (CAI).

Ebner will open her spring 2017 residency with a workshop from noon to 2 p.m. on Feb. 18 at the Western New York Book Arts Center, 468 Washington St., Buffalo.

Titled “Pressure Printing for ALL!” Ebner will demonstrate a new print technique that uses low-relief collage and stencils on the press. She will explore pattern, color and texture using this deceptively simple and improvisational method for creating striking prints. Registration is required by calling 716-348-1430. Participants pay a $10 fee to cover the cost of materials for this workshop.

Ebner also will hold a Japanese woodblock printing demonstration from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 3 in B37 and B38 in the Center for the Arts, North Campus. Guests can have lunch with the artist from 1-2 p.m., followed by a talk and exhibition of Ebner’s prints from 2-3 p.m. All of these events are free and open to the public, but registration is requested at 716-645-6073 or cai-ub@buffalo.edu.

In her work, Ebner draws from contemporary American vernacular to create images that transform everyday happenstance into iconic images. In addition to her scheduled events, she will use her CAI residency to create a series of screen prints inspired by Western New York imagery and the themes and aesthetic of prolific printmaker Currier and Ives.

Like Currier and Ives, Ebner seeks to discover and create that which defines American imagery, spaces, events and moments that may be overlooked, but in the end become places of self-recognition. Her goal is to create a series of prints around the complexity of America’s social fabric and provide a glimpse into contemporary lifestyles.

Ebner is dedicated to the art and history of printmaking and demonstrating that the unique voice of the art form holds deep value and promise in contemporary art and society. With a focus on craft, she pushes today’s rigid and process-driven methods of printmaking into the realm of art to create work that transcends the possibilities of the medium.

She received a BFA from the University of Minnesota in 1998 and an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2006. She has exhibited her work at venues across the country, including the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the International Print Center New York, The Print Center - Philadelphia, Kala Art Institute and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

She has held residencies at the Lower East Side Printshop, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Studio Program and the Kala Art Institute.

The CAI is a university-wide initiative dedicated to the creation and production of new work upholding the highest artistic standards of excellence and fostering a complementary atmosphere of creative investigation and engagement among students, faculty, visiting artists and the community.

Through its artist-in-residence program and its innovative, interdisciplinary offerings for students, CAI is raising the profile of UB and Buffalo in the world of artistic expression and revitalizing the initiative’s proud tradition as a leader in contemporary art.