Family Photos Print Series

The Family Photos Print Series collection of linoleum block prints made between 2018–2019, in which I discovered different sides of my family members by recreating old family portraits in print form.

Across the ten prints, I hand-carved portraits based on photos of my great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, uncles, or any other family member from previous generations. In the process, I found moments and versions of my family that were unfamiliar to me, revealing a private, playful, youthful, or even stoic version of themselves that I was not accustomed to—a grandma smoking a cigar, a grandpa riding a pony, and so on.

In the series, I often experimented with patterns within the prints, adding polka dots or emphasizing the textile of a chair to help soften the images.

All of the prints were made using a similar process applying graphite to the back of a print-out of the photo, tracing details of the image onto a linoleum block, and then hand-carving the block to create the final print.

The above print from the series, Judy, was selected for the MCA Denver’s annual fundraiser, the Luminocity Gala, in 2019 as an auctioned artwork. My print was featured and sold alongside works by artists like Ana María Hernando, Molly Bounds, and more, and I was the only teen artist included in the event.