A WORD FROM THE ARTIST
Amy Haney:
Printmaking is a process in which a drawing is created on a matrix. The matrix could come from a range of materials such as wood, stone or metal. Using a printing press, the matrix is repeatedly run through under great pressure to create multiple original prints.
I enjoy the technical processes, complicated planning and meditative repetitiveness found in printmaking. The steps taken to create each individual print involve methodical and efficient procedures to develop a cohesive edition of images and ideas. My meditative process is experienced in the rhythm of the carving, inking and printing. I become immersed in the process and all thoughts and distractions fall to the wayside.
Over the past several years, I have incorporated birds, insects and animals into my work. In particular, I enjoy the personalities that come across with bird’s postures, gestures, colors and shapes. Working in various formats and printmaking processes allows me to explore multiple ways of representing birds. Woodcuts visually lend themselves towards commanding and bold images while intaglio looks delicate and at times intimate. I find birds to be an interesting subject matter because everyone has a connection to them in nature, as an icon or spiritually. I’m drawn to birds because of their unattainability and their adaptability. They balance their lives between land, water and sky. Birds are beautiful creatures that are both powerful and vulnerable.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Amy Haney was born in Omaha Nebraska in 1974. She discovered printmaking at Central High School and continued studying the medium at the Ringling College of Art and Design (BFA 1998) and the San Francisco Art Institute (MFA 2002). She received an Art History degree from Prescott College in 2015 specifically focused on the history of printmaking. Amy has taught studio classes in the Omaha metropolitan area and is currently an instructor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Amy frequently exhibits locally and nationally, has been published in the SGCI newsletter and her work is included in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art collection and the Microsoft Corporation.
