Anna Hepler carved out the world as she saw it for her latest exhibit, "Woodcuts," at ICON Contemporary Art Gallery in Brunswick.
Hepler, a visiting assistant professor of art at Bowdoin, currently has 17 woodcuts hanging at the gallery that depict reductive images of real life objects, a theme prevalent throughout Hepler's work, woodcut and otherwise.
"My work looks abstract but is in fact a kind of reductive realism," Hepler said. "That is, the images are based on real things and real observations in the world."
The inspiration for the woodcuts included fireworks, augers, and bone structures, in addition to "irregular structures or patterns found both microscopically and macroscopically," according to Hepler.
In each cut, something is distilled in the final product.
"The feeling they share is spare, spontaneous, and translucent," she said. "Though they each take a long time to make, I wanted to capture something fleeting and fresh in the final image."
Although Hepler shared a show with painter Martha Groome in the fall of 2006 at ICON in which she included paintings and drawings, this is her first solo exhibit at the gallery as well as her first exhibition of woodcuts.
Hepler made the woodcuts included in this exhibit over the past two years, although most of them were made in the past six months.
The process of making a woodcut involves carving the surface of a piece of wood (usually plywood for Hepler) so that all the wood is cut away except the image the artist wants to print.
"For example, if I wanted to print a pink circle, I would cut away everything but the circle, then ink the top surface using a brayer, and print onto a piece of paper using an etching press, letterpress or a wooden spoon," Hepler said.
Hepler started the woodcuts in this exhibit by using a brush and India ink to make a simple drawing on the surface of a block. After it dried, she cut everything away but the drawing.
Hepler has lived abroad, and she is currently in her fifth year of teaching at Bowdoin. The international and local perspectives she's gained contributed to the creative process for these woodcuts and her other work.
"Everything you do in life?all circumstances?contributes to the creative process," she said. "I began making woodcuts while I was living in Cyprus. I'm not sure why, but maybe because of the harsh dry environment. There is something hard-edged and harsh about a woodcut as well. It is a bold and uncompromising medium."
She continued making woodcuts when David Wolfe, of Wolfe Editions Incorporated, invited her to use his studio in Portland. She used the space to maximize her creative potential.
"I thought I would make five or six, but instead I made 17," she said.
Hepler draws inspiration from other places she's traveled, including South Korea, New Mexico, and Washington state, as well as her current surroundings in Maine.
"I think the environment does affect the work, and sometimes in substantial ways," she said.
Although woodcuts exclusively comprise her current exhibit at ICON, Hepler works with a variety of mediums.
"I work in whatever medium helps to achieve the desired outcome," she said. "Each material and process communicates differently, and so my ongoing experimentation is one way I can broaden my vocabulary as an artist."
Hepler continues to discover new ways to express her ideas.
"What is still unknown to me may be the most interesting and powerful form yet," she said. "I strive to remain open to these possibilities and to cultivate this attitude of risk-taking."
A manifestation of Hepler's risks is "Arrest, Array," a large (55 feet by 30 feet by 20 feet) site-specific sculptural installation she created during a residency in Seattle last summer. It is made up of aluminum and steel rods connected by black PVC discs.
"The idea was to freeze a constellation of black dots mid-flight, as if to stop a flock of birds and then create a fixed geometry from the frozen form," she said.
Hepler works in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional space and in a variety of media.
"My work is conceptually linked whether it manifests [itself] as two dimensional or three dimensional artwork," she said. "I am interested in getting around all sides of an idea to see it from different angles," she said.
Norah Maki '08 is working on an independent study involving priintmaking and bookbinding with Hepler and has taken two of her printmaking classes.
"I think that it has an interesting tension between the precision of geometric forms and the abstract," Maki said of Hepler's work.
According to Maki, Hepler is equally as successful at inspiring students in the classroom as she is at creating her art.
"She's great," Maki said. "She's very enthusiastic and very efficient. She's excited about what she's doing and she's good at what she does."
Just as she pushes herself, Hepler encourages her students to take risks as well.
"Generally her project guidelines are pretty loose. We'll get a certain size plate and sort of general assignment and she'll work with every person individually to develop an idea that they're personally excited about," Maki said. "I think that she would be supportive of trying something new instead of doing something safe and familiar."
"Woodcuts" will be on display until December 13 at ICON Contemporary Art Gallery in Brunswick, located at 19 Mason Street. The gallery is open 1-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 1-4 p.m. on Saturdays. Hepler also has a sculptural installation opening at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockport on January 10.