Mark Ritchie
"I started purchasing my Conrad press before I was offered the position at the University of Wyoming 16 years ago. I was paying for it over time and the promise of steady employment allowed me to pay-off the press early. It seemed a bit of an irony that once I had access to an entire printmaking studio, I had my own press. Having the Conrad Machine press at my home studio proved not to be redundant at all! It has assured focused and uninterrupted work time (with the exception of cat interruptions) and the chance to quickly run a proof or complete work before going to bed, after a shower, or while waiting for the grill to become hot. The press is portable and can be rolled about the studio on its casters, but certainly sturdy and I appreciate the ability to quickly switch the press from a lithography press to an intaglio press. Ringo the cat likes the press, too. It provides an excellent vantage point to watch me work and it is apparently pleasant to ride the press bed while it moves back and forth. "
Artist/ Printmaker
Printmaking Professor,
University of Wyoming
Bio
Mark Ritchie
-Printmaking Professor, University of Wyoming
-B.F.A. University of Kansas, 1986
-M.F.A. Indiana University, 1990
Mark lives and works in Laramie, Wyoming where he teaches at the University of Wyoming. His work in printmaking is rooted in a love of drawing and both continue to be companions in his work. One often informs the other in his studio and he frequently draws on prints and prints on drawings. In recent intaglio prints, the relationship of the lines on waxed papers and marks made on both sides of paper build the image. Color is achieved with hand-tinting, worked on the plate prior to printing or through printed layers. The printmaking matrix becomes a vehicle for multiple unique solutions and several plates often contribute to a single image.
Animals: birds, monkeys, horses and dogs, frequently play the roles of humans in the obtuse narratives in his work. The garden, the house, the prairie provide a setting. Ladders, mazes, bells and paper airplanes reference communication and epiphanies. These symbols are shared in many traditions, while others are unique to his experience of growing up in Kansas and current home on the high plains. Asian folding screens, Islamic miniatures, paper fans and medieval book illuminations have all provided inspiration and visual vocabulary.
His work provides a middle ground between the observed and objective and the lyrical world of the subjective image with the intention to evoke rather than describe a specific narrative. The Byzantine spaces in each piece encourage the viewer to enter a flattened world of paper and ink and like many Asian works, ask the viewer to enter and trace a journey.
