Artist Dorothy Cochran Using YUPO as a Printmaking Plate

Tell us about yourself and your work.

I am a long-time professional painter/printmaker working in a broad range of print techniques. I specialize in using innovative processes to update traditional ways of making a printmaking plate in my studio practice. My works on paper are primarily focused on relief and intaglio methods which include monotype/monoprint and collagraph to name a few. Ten years ago, I discovered encaustic (hot wax) and added those methods to my practice.  Printmaking processes excite me, and I enjoy sharing my knowledge with other artists. There is magic in the pressing of paper to plate, a birth and a marriage all at once.  Experiencing that emotion Paper painting is like no other and is central to my artmaking. I am inspired by the working of solar systems, metaphysical thought, microscopic science and the bounty of nature.  My teaching experience encompasses universities, museums, art centers and national workshops. I currently work at the Montclair Art Museum in NJ and do online and in person workshops throughout the country.

What are your go-to materials?

I just love YUPO! More than ten years ago, I happened to view a watercolor done on it while traveling in California. I researched the material and tried to imagine how I could use it with printmaking. I began experimenting with watercolor and various inks using YUPO as a monotype plate, both with a press and hand printed.   Later I combined other types of print plates using the YUPO to print multiple colors and shapes in layers.  Most recently, I have been making encaustic collagraphs with YUPO as the substrate, printing them as intaglio and/or relief using traditional and non-traditional papers including Evolon.

Indian online contemporary and folk art gallery Deccan Footprints was established in 2012 by Manvee Vaid with the aim of sharing the work of Indian contemporary and folk artists directly with the world, cutting out the need Bhil painting for physical gallery space. For Folk Ark’s purposes, Manvee’s collection of folk art works by Bhil, Gond, Madhubani, Patua and Warli people is of most interest, and is what you’ll see on Deccan Footprints’ profile page. From their website, some fascinating explanations of the locations and differing tribal traditions of these cultures are below. Welcome Deccan Footprints!

BHIL

Pithora Horses

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Untitled

The Bhils are the second largest tribal community of India residing in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Some of the Bhils trace their ancestry to Eklavya, who was more skilled as an archer than Arjuna, the hero of Mahabharata. Some scholars have said that Valmiki, who chronicled the Ramayana was actually a Bhil, Valia.

The rich cultural tradition of the Bhils are manifested in their rituals, their songs and dances, their community deities, tattoos, myths, community art and lore. Everything connected with the Bhil life is painted — the Sun, the Moon, the animals, trees, insects, rivers, fields, mythological figures, and their gods. The Bhils, like all adivasis, live close to nature.

GOND

View fullsizeTiger

View fullsizeHerd of Deer

View fullsizeMonkeys on a Tree

The Gonds are the largest Adivasi Community in India and are Dravidians whose origins can be traced to the pre-Aryan era. They are mainly found in Madhya Pradesh and its surrounding States. The word Gond comes from Kond, which means green mountains in the Dravidian idiom. The Gond called themselves Koi or Koiture.Their language is related to Telegu and other Dravidian languages. About half of Gonds speak Gondi languages, while the rest speak Indo-Aryan languages including Hindi.

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