Drawer and printmaker Amze Emmons gave a lecture about his work titled "Refugee Architecture and other Systems of Daily Experience" on Monday.
"I'm really interested in the politics of architecture," said Emmons. "Architecture is a great metaphor for power structures in the world."
The lecture discussed his studio practice, which originated from collecting images he found in media-scapes, such as documentaries, newspapers and websites. Emmons transforms the images he collects through an intuitive editing process that involves combining various parts of several images.
Emmons, who is currently a professor of art at Muhlenberg College, advised the audience to always carry a sketch book and a camera.
"This is an integral part of my process," he said. "The artist should always to be ready to look at the world as it is present to them."
As the co-founder and contributing editor of Printeresting.org, a blog "that investigates the intersection of contemporary print, design and technology within a visual culture context," Emmons has established himself as an artist around the world.
He is internationally renowned for his work, and has had solo exhibitions displayed in Philadelphia and the OHT Gallery in Boston. His other works have been showcased in the International Fine Prints Dealers Association (IFPDA) Print Fair and Bertrand Delacroix Gallery in New York, NY; Gallery Ami & Kanoko in Osaka, Japan; and Ink Miami Art Fair in Miami, Fla.
Emmons' lecture was made possible by the Marvin Bileck Printmaking Project, a fund established by Marvin Bileck and Emily Nelliga to bring a visiting artist and master printmaker together to collaborate for one week with Bowdoin printmaking students. This week, Emmons worked closely with Portland-based master printer, David Wolfe.
-Compiled by Mariya Ilyas.