Drew Steinbrecher
Quatre Jetés, 8x8 inches / 203x203 mm, Monoprinted papers collaged and mounted on cradled wood board.
“I enjoy printed ephemera and seeing what happens rather than staring at a blank canvas....It’s only when I begin to assemble the collages that I consider color.”
Drew Steinbrecher is an artist living and working in Cincinnati, Ohio (USA). He wings it with his approach to color, and his approach to printmaking is improvisational. Drew’s prints embody a controlled chaos using gelatin plate printing methods, and he also works with collage and sewing. He is currently working on a series of collages with monoprinted layers.
Where do you reside between technical and intuitive in your work as an artist using color?
I am drawn to collage because I enjoying pulling from gelatin plate printed ephemera and seeing what happens rather than staring at a blank canvas holding a paint brush. The same is true with color. I create collage papers with the gelatin plate, not worrying about a color scheme. It’s only when I begin to assemble the collages that I consider color.
“I have always felt more at home in the hustle, bustle, and crowds of cities, even though I would call myself an introvert. ”
Workbook spread, 10x7 inches / 254x177 mm, Collaged monoprinted papers on child’s board book.
Half Telephone Pole, 7.5X11 inches / 190x279 mm, Arcylic paint monoprinted on paper
Are there specific associations towards color in your work?
Recently my art has been inspired by the controlled chaos and dichotomy of urban environments. I have always felt more at home in the hustle, bustle, and crowds of cities, even though I would call myself an introvert. Cities are controlled and regulated, yet they can be very chaotic and organic. Most cities are organized in to “blocks”, yet within these containers there are chaotic and contrasting urban elements, such as power lines, graffiti, nature, crumbling concrete, walls with torn posters, billboards, nature, wealth, poverty. These dichotomies inspire my art.
How does the printmaking process itself relate to how you work with color?
Mostly I just let it happen as I work on the gelatin plate. I tend to only work with one color at a time, letting the layers build as I print.
Workbook spreads, Various sizes, Collaged monoprinted papers on children’s board books.