Jacquie Strycker

Quilted Medley (Pink), risograph and screenprint collage with gouache and gold leaf on mulberry papers, 38x38 inches

Artist, educator, home chef and local mom Jacquie Strycker has a special love for patterns. She recently applied her printmaking skills to craft handmade cards and gift wrap for our shop.

What is the inspiration behind your work?

I’m interested in domestic labor and use-value relationships of objects. I generally use household objects and domestic textiles as source material. I enjoy the tension between the handmade and the digital/machine made, so my work involves a lot of back and forth between hand drawing of patterns like lace, plaid, things found on tablecloths or tea towels, etc. Next I scan those drawings, manipulate them digitally, print them and sometimes to finish I may go back in again by hand. I love craft, kitsch and obsolete technologies and enjoy finding ways to combine them. And of course aesthetically, I love patterns.

What medium and technique do you use?

Right now, I use a lot of screenprinting and risograph printing on paper and on textiles. I print my materials, cut them up, collage and often go back to hand color, sew, or further embellish them. I recently moved into a new studio, and have a small etching press, so I am eager to make some intaglio and woodcuts to incorporate into new works as well. 

 

I also make some more participatory, interactive projects. I’ve printed origami instructions to make cups and had those be the only option for a drinking vessel.  You have to fold your own cup if you want a glass of water or wine. I did a big project involving Spanish tapas and making collaborative mixtapes. I also created a victory garden project, in which I printed floral and vegetable patterns on corresponding seed papers. One could plant the papers, destroying the prints to make a garden.

MIXT TAPES I MIX TAPES_installation with digital print on fabric; digital print on wallpaper; home made food

 

Tell us about your background as an artist?

My background is in printmaking. When I was a freshman at Columbia University, one of the only visual arts classes I could get a spot in was an intro intaglio printmaking class. All of the painting and sculpture classes were full. It ended up being serendipitous, because I fell in love with the medium and took as many printmaking classes as I could. I earned an MFA in Printmaking from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Currently, I’m on the faculty at the School of Visual Arts and manage a grad program there.

Study for Compilation (Green and Yellow) risograph collage on mulberry papers

You can find Jacquie's handmade cards and gift wrap in-store now.