Abstract

Printmakers have embraced the machine or mechanized, reproducible processes of creation in varying forms from ancient to contemporary times. Because they often work with the press and the matrix, printmakers have an ability to communicate widely their visions through multiples. In the 21st century how do printmakers address the subject of the machine in contemporary culture by way of printmaking’s nuanced means of production that involve the mechanical and the handmade? Analysis of the work of select artists from the Los Angeles Printmaking Society focused on the theme of the machine reveals that the visual story of the machine in the garden is a delicate balance of moods ranging from ambivalence to nostalgia. Moreover, when machines and machine technology are examined through analysis of printmaking we are presented with an innovative model for humanistic inquiry in which artists apply the very processes that serve as the many times contested subject matter of their work.