ARTIST-CURATED EXHIBITION FOR PRINT AUSTIN FESTIVAL EXPLORES DEEPLY FELT HUMAN EXPERIENCES THROUGH THE LENS OF NATURE.

Contracommon is proud to present Proof of Life, a group exhibition of printmakers running from January 19th through February 15th, as part of Print Austin. The opening reception will be held at Contracommon on Saturday, January 20th from 6-9 pm; it is free to attend and open to the public.

Proof of Life features work from Texas artists Terry Chastain, Thomas Cook, Diego Diaz, Daniela Oliver and Melissa Slaughter. These artists employ a diverse range of printmaking techniques–including screen printing, cyanotypes, relief prints, monoprints and intaglio–to express deep relationships between human beings and the earth they inhabit. Nature is an eternal presence across all human experience, enduring through time. The use of natural elements allows both the artists and viewers to explore complex ideas through environments that feel both alien and hauntingly familiar.

In many of these works, the land is an embodied actor in a relationship with its inhabitants. Melissa Slaughter’s hand-embellished screenprints serve as records of a struggle between environment and control, the artist’s attempts to “to reconcile the tension between nature and order.” Terry Chastain’s gestural monoprints depicting sublime landscapes evoke 18th century Romantics and the wondrous adventure of a Jules Verne novel. The roiling oceans and looming forests are unsettling and awe-inspiring. Thomas Cook’s editions of screen printed topographical maps elaborate on his larger body of work that illustrates human interruption through geography and habitats. Diego Diaz’s relief prints cast embattled fantastical figures against a borderland backdrop, the significance of the land is ever present in these narrative scenes. Daniela Oliver’s solemn cyanotypes reflect on domesticity and “self-imposed standards of female perfection” with the metaphor of cut flowers and orchids–plants whose existences are highly controlled and manipulated.

Proof of Life will be on view in the Contracommon gallery from January 19 - February 15, 2024 during the Print Austin festival. The gallery is open to the public from 12-6 pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with private viewing appointments available Monday - Thursday at calendly.com/contracommon. The exhibition will open with a reception on Saturday, January 20th from 6-9pm.

For a list of related in-person and virtual events, visit our website at contracommon.org. For inquiries, information, or to make a donation, email contact@contracommon.org.