Fresh Press is offering tours of the studio and the opportunity to see an artist in residence working. Additionally, we will demonstrate the Western papermaking process.
e Ainsley – e. uses handmade paper to speak to internal dream states and (attempts at) meditation. They combine eight years of working in the western yoga wellness industry with sincere study of Zen Buddhism and express their relation to the rhythm of the world through collage and cast paper. e. creates vibrant mandalas, spirals, spirits, still lives, grids and forms infused with a sense of humor about the way things appear to be. e.’s practice is an inquiry into the space between self and environment, the transition between conscious and subconscious landscape and the grey area that evokes curiosity and wonder.
Gina Burri – Gina Burri is a graphic designer and printmaker from Zurich, Switzerland. She is a Fresh Press artist in residence during early April and also at Spudnik Press in Chicago.
Eric Benson – Eric is a sci-fi-loving, tree-hugging nerd from Michigan who is also an Associate Professor of Graphic Design at the University of Illinois. He co-founded Fresh Press in 2012 and has been running his 501(c)3 non-profit Re-nourish since 2006. Benson has published and lectured internationally on the importance of sustainable design. His work has also garnered numerous design awards and has been seen in notable venues like The Walker Art Center, the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, the Hammer Museum, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and RISD.
Stephen Signa-Aviles – Stephen Signa-Avilés is an artist and educator living in Urbana, IL, where he is an Assistant Professor of 3D Practice at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Stephen spent his formative years between Illinois, Kansas, and Michigan. His research is invested in family/personal history and its connection to wider historical narratives, while his practice is rooted in object-oriented collage, signaling the critical power inherent in hybridization.
Martine Whitehead
Saturday April 5, 10am-2pm
