Naomi S. Velasquez
Wanderlust

Media: Letterpress print/broadside on handmade paper

Artist Statement:

Wanderlust is a letterpress and handmade paper broadside that explores wanderlust.  In thinking about the illustration of time and space, I am inspired by the nineteenth century Japanese printmaker, Hiroshige. His prints, the Fifty-three stations of the Tokaido Road, illustrate the landscape and stops on the road that connected Edo to Kyoto. He illustrates people that seem to be walking along the road, not stopping; thus as a set they are woodblocks prints of moving pictures. In researching the history of walking and wandering, labyrinths and mazes are a place where there is meditative walking, not stopping. Participants follow a path chosen by someone else, accepting their interpretation and try to find their way. In Rebecca Solnit’s book Wanderlust on page 71, she states, “Labyrinths always represent some kind of journey… Some seem merely to signify the complexity of any journey, the difficulty of finding or knowing one’s way.” In this piece, I visually portrayed the interplay between maps (that have been abbreviated and thus have no usefulness as specific directional material), labyrinths and visual imagery/cues from maps. Separated from their original context, they still represent journeys, but also the difficulty of finding one’s way. For this print, I created handmade paper with found map inclusions. Then, to create layered imagery of labyrinths and map visual signage, I utilized letterpress printing P22 blox for two layers of the print. For the final layer of the print, I used hand drawn signage images and created polymer plates to letterpress print these images.

Biography

Naomi S. Velasquez is an award winning contemporary textile and book artist. Her artwork is consistently shown internationally and nationally and in diverse venues ranging from galleries to public works installations. Naomi holds an M.F.A. from the University of North Texas in Studio Art, Fibers. Naomi’s work was included in Quilt National 2011, and received the "Most Innovative Use of the Medium Award." Naomi is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Art at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho. She is the coordinator for the Fiber Media and Papermaking areas. Her work is held in numerous private and public collections including the University of Denver Library, Emory University Library, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts and the University of North Texas Special Collection.