BFA major Anna Pollard’s linoleum cut print was chosen for an award in Speedball’s New Impressions 2019 Printmaking Competition. Her hand colored print, Awe, placed third in the Wild Card category and will be exhibited at the Sawtooth School for Visual Arts in Winston-Salem, N.C., and at the 2020 Southern Graphics Conference in Puerto Rico.
Pollard originally created the print for her monotype printmaking class with Nic Tisdale. She said, “Most of my work deals with portraiture and memories of people I am close with, so I chose to make a print of my boyfriend and me, using a photograph taken by my friend as inspiration. The linocut process has its own unique challenges, but I was most challenged with the watercolor aspect of this piece. I chose to use the rejection of oil and water to my advantage. The linocut was printed using a single layer of oil-based black ink. Rather than creating a reduction print or using multiple blocks to add color, I decided to hand paint the prints using watercolor. This print is one of seven variable prints.”
The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students across North America. Pollard is a junior from Hueytown, Alabama, pursuing a BFA in printmaking.
For more information about The University of Alabama’s programs in studio art and art history, visit our Degree Programs page.