Mary Teichman
I have been making and exhibiting color etchings for over forty years, following my graduation from The Cooper Union in 1976 as a painting and printmaking major. I worked at Bob Blackburn’s cooperative Printmaking Workshop in the 1970s, until I set up my own studio on Union Square and worked there until 1991. At that time, I moved to New England, where my etching studio is currently housed in a huge renovated factory building in Easthampton, MA.
Through the years, I have participated in over 250 national and international invitational and juried exhibitions, including The Brooklyn Museum’s 22nd National Print Exhibition, Associated American Artist’s New Talent in Printmaking in NYC, The Rene Carcan International Prize for Printmaking in Brussels (twice), the National Original Print Exhibition in London, The Taiwan International Invitational Exhibit and New England on Paper at the Boston Athenaeum.
I am a long-time member of The Society of American Graphic Artists, The Boston Printmakers, and The Printmaker’s Network of Southern New England. My etchings are in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Boston Athenaeum, The New York Public Library, The National Museum of Women in the Arts, and The Museum of the City of New York, among others.
In April of 2019, I travelled to China with four other members of the Printmakers Network of Southern New England to exhibit our prints at the University City Art Museum in Guangzhou. While there, we also demonstrated our techniques and lectured to the art students at the university. The University Art Museum in Guangzhou now has 24 of my etchings in their collection.
In 2019, I was the recipient of the Society of American Graphic Artists Biennial Award for Outstanding Commitment to the World of Fine Art Printmaking. The ceremony was held in New York City in October.
Statement: My color etchings are triggered by things I observe: a color or texture, a slant of light--especially those that evoke memories. I am fascinated by the quality of light at night, and by the shapes emerging as my eyes adjust to the darkness. My multi-plate etching technique, with its possibilites for rich color and dense blacks, lends itself easily to night scenes.
The four color (copper) plates are printed sequentially, “wet on wet,” producing secondary colors as well as browns and grays. The ink is pressed under great pressure into the fibers of the dampened paper, resulting in rich, dense colors with a look that is unique to this medium. I work on the color as I see the proofs, re-etching, scraping and burnishing until I’ve achieved the colors I desire. The plates are entirely drawn and etched by hand, and the color separations are my vision, not computer generated. Each plate has a full range of values, from light to dark, and when overlapped the diversity of color is virtually limitless.
Through the years, my images have evolved from still lifes and interiors, to city scenes, and after my move to western Mass., to landscapes and factory buildings like the one that houses my studio. I am interested in history, change, light and mystery. The crumbling factories and derelict towns represent a bygone era, a reminder of both their former majesty and current despair.
Contact: mary@mtcalligraphy.com
