Jason Scuilla curates exhibition at American Chemical Society conference, presents with printmaking collaborators and students
By Sarah Hancock
Attendees at the 51st Midwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, or ACS, encountered the usual array of technical presentations, poster sessions, and subject area meetings, but they also found one symposium and special display that was far from ordinary for a chemistry conference.
"Chemistry in Art" and an accompanying exhibition, "Alchemy: Creating Fine Art Prints through Traditional and Contemporary Chemical Processes," broke new ground for the society at the Oct. 26-28 meeting in Manhattan. The conference has never before hosted a symposium and exhibition focused on artists working in printmedia.
"The ACS has hosted symposia about art at its national meetings, most notably about how chemistry plays a role in dating, evaluating and exploring paintings and other forms of art," said Peter Dorhout, vice president for research and the recently elected ACS president, who attended the regional meeting. "Art and chemistry are joined in many ways, and this symposium enabled attendees to learn about the chemistry in printmaking specifically."
Jason Scuilla, associate professor of art and area head of printmaking, and Katharina Bossmann, a chemistry research assistant with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking from K-State, co-organized and curated the symposium and exhibition in an effort to encourage collaboration between printmakers and chemists.
"Fine art printmakers work with traditional chemical processes that are passed down from generation to generation through teaching. We don't have an analytical chemistry background," Scuilla said.
Printmakers produce imagery by creating a printable matrix through a mixture of hand drawing and chemical processing. This matrix — metal, wood, stone or screen — can be carved, etched or photo-exposed, depending on the process. It's printed by hand in limited edition fine art prints. Etching, lithography, serigraphy, relief, digital and 3D processes are employed by artists in the print field. Many of the traditional acids and solvents can be toxic and must be used under proper ventilation.
Talking to chemists about printmaking processes can result in safer, cheaper and better methods.
"Collaborations between artists and chemists have real potential to disrupt our field. We're proving this in the College of Arts & Sciences at K-State and are excited to share the results with the scientific community. I hope this symposium inspires more chemists to get involved in these exciting projects," Scuilla said.
Katharina Bossmann, who is married to Stefan Bossmann, helped Scuilla start that conversation. She became concerned about the safety of a solvent she was using in the print shop while she was working on her degree. She discussed the chemicals with her husband and introduced Scuilla to him. Now the chemist and the artist are friends and regular collaborators. Together they improved the safety of solvents and developed new printmaking methods. Scuilla has presented their research nationally and internationally, and he is now seeking new collaborations.
Fellow printmakers are eager to participate and co-presented during the symposium Scuilla and Katharina Bossmann organized. Evan Summer, professor of fine arts at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, is working to improve the precision of his etchings and is experimenting with using steel plates instead of more traditional copper and zinc. He has a bachelor's degree in chemistry, and he participated in the symposium by discussing how techniques of fine art printmaking depend on chemical reactions. Shelley Thorstensen, who teaches at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and runs her own print shop, Printmakers Open Forum, addressed best practices in a printmaking studio and discussed the rag recycling program Stefan Bossmann helped her perfect. Scuilla demonstrated new developments in his electrochemical etching process, and Katharina Bossmann drew from her experience creating a biodeisel-based solvent for printmaking and described what artists expect from collaborations with chemists. Graduate students Brandon Williams and Benjamin Ingle demonstrated traditional processes for both etching and screenprinting.
Summer was pleased with ACS attendees' responses and looks forward to the help chemists can provide.
"When we told them we were artists, they were so welcoming," he said. "This is a start. We hope this will lead to more collaboration — maybe there are better ways to do this stuff. Scientists can offer a lot of insights right off the top of their heads," Summer said.
Thorstensen added that K-State is at the forefront of providing a safer environment for artists and better printmaking techniques. She said artists often don't know what kind of hazards the products they use present.
Ingle and Williams enjoyed addressing the conference and demonstrating their work. Ingle said removing the separation and expanding the dialogue between art and science is significant. Williams, who will finish his degree this year, added that he wants to remain on the forefront of printmaking.
"I hope to be teaching, so I care about my future and current students' safety. I want to provide a good environment that gives good results and isn't damaging to them," Williams said.
Dorhout said he is proud of the unique art-science collaboration at K-State.
"As the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, I was always looking for the research and scholarly work that reached across interfaces like art and science. As a chemist and artist — I am a woodworker and woodturner — I appreciate that there was a great response to this unique symposium at the Midwest Regional Meeting. The organizers should be very proud of this creative program," he said.