Tandem Press is one of only three professional presses affiliated with a university in the United States. At Tandem, internationally renowned artists create editions of prints and interact with graduate and undergraduate students.
Tandem Press was founded in 1987 and is based at University of Wisconsin-Madison. It is affiliated with the Department of Art in the School of Education, and offers an extraordinary educational experience for collectors and the university community, which is unparalleled at any other university in the United States. Tandem Press is an artistic laboratory where internationally recognized artists undertake creative experimentation. The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s stated mission is threefold: teaching, research, and public service. Tandem Press shares this mission by teaching, undertaking research into new and traditional printmaking techniques, and by conducting outreach programs to help educate the public about art in general, and printmaking in particular.
Tandem Press is currently working with with local artist Jennifer Angus, a professor in the Design Studies department at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Using a laser engraver here at Sector67 they cut a block that will be used to print a repeated pattern for a large 96″ x 28″ print.
The pattern features such intricate detail that hand carving the print would be unrealistically time consuming and extremely difficult to replicate the original image. Using the laser engraver, reproducing the extreme detail is not an issue. Though there were some “learn as you go” moments with early attempts such as the depth of the engraving. Early prints were engraved to deep and became fragile and ultimately broke while printing.
Once the pattern is engraved into the block, paint is then applied to the block and pressed onto the canvas.
Ultimately becoming a repeated theme throughout the finished installment
