Gregory Page

ARTIST STATEMENT 

MY PROJECTS AND PRACTICE INCLUDES LITHOGRAPHIC PRINT WORKS PRODUCED UTILIZING A TECHNIQUE I DISCOVERED IN 2002 AND DEMONSTRATED AT THE FRONTIERS IN PRINTMAKING CONFERENCE IN 2007 AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY NORMAL, ILLINOIS. I AM INTERESTED IN PRODUCING PLANT IMPRESSIONS ALLOWING THE PLANTS TO RENDER AN ACCURATE PHYSICAL EXPRESSION. I FIND MY PRACTICE TO BE IN THE REALM OF TAXONOMY, IDENTIFICATION AND DOCUMENTATION. USING THE LITHOGRAPHIC DRAWING MATERIAL PASTE AND STICK TUSCHE I COLLECT PLANTS DRY THEM AND REHYDRATE THEM IN A TRAY OF THE TUSCHE. THE PLANTS ARE PLACED ON A SHEET OF ARTEX FILM USED AS A DRAWING FILM IN PLATE LITHOGRAPHY. ONCE THE PLANT MATERIAL DRIES I REMOVE THE PLANTS AND WHATS LEFT IS THE IMPRESSION. I COLLECT PLANTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD AND AM ABLE TO ACQUIRE A SENSITIVE IMPRESSION OF THESE PLANTS THAT I FIND A TRUE COLLABORATION IN THIS ON-GOING PROJECT. THE PLATES I USE ARE LITHOGRAPHIC POSITIVE WORKING ALUMINUM PLATES AND ARE PRINTED USUALLY IN BLACK LITHOGRAPHIC INK. IN 2013 I PRODUCED WORKS UTILIZING PLANT MATERIAL FROM THE NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS IN EDINBURGH SCOTLAND, ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY GREEN HOUSES AND THE CORNELL BOTANIC GARDENS. IN 2019 DURING MY SABATICAL LEAVE I PRODUCED WORKS WITH PLANT MATERIAL FROM MY HOME, THE NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS IN DUBLIN IRELAND, AND THE CORNELL BOTANICAL GARDENS. THIS EXHIBITION INCLUDES WORKS FROM ALL OF THESE LOCATIONS AS WELL AS TWO BOOKS CONSISTING OF PRINT IMAGES OF THE PRINTS AND OTHER PRINTS FROM EARLIER WORKS USING THIS SAME TECHNIQUE. THE WORKS FROM MY HOME WERE PRODUCED AT MY STUDIO IN ITHACA, NEW YORK, THE WORKS FROM ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY WERE PRODUCED AT NORMAL EDITIONS WORK SHOP, ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY, NORMAL, ILLINOIS, THE WORKS FROM EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND WERE PRODUCED AT THE EDINBURGH PRINTMAKERS STUDIO IN EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND. THOSE WORKS FROM DUBLIN, IRELAND WERE PRODUCEDED AT THE BLACK CHURCH PRINTMAKING STUDIO IN DUBLIN IRELAND.

THIS WORK CONTINUES TO BE INSPIRED BY MY INITIAL SOURCE FROM MY VISITS TO ROME TEACHING IN THE CORNELL ROME PROGRAM OF THE COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE, ART AND PLANNING.
ATTRACTED TO THE ARCHITECTURAL ORNAMENTAL MOTIFS WHICH I FOUND TO NOT ONLY EMBELLISH THE ARCHITECTURE BUT ALSO SERVED AS REFERENCE TO CULTURAL, HISTORY AND IN SOME CASES GUIDANCE FOR THE POPULACE. I WOULD ACTIVELY SEEK OUT ARCHITECTURAL MOTIFS THAT I FOUND INTERSTING AND THOSE WITH HORTICULTURAL SUBJECTS. MOTIFS FROM MY BACK YARD EMERGED AS A BODY OF WORK INVESTIGATING HORTICULTURAL SPECIMENS FROM MY OWN LOCATION.
MOTIFS FROM THE GLOBAL BACK YARD CONTIUES THIS WORK INCORPORATING MORE PLANTS FROM BROADER LOCATIONS.
AS AN ACTIVE GARDENER I HAVE SEVERAL PERENNIAL AND VEGETABLE GARDENS AT MY HOME. MY BACK-YARD SERVES AS A
PLACE OF RESEARCH WHERE I AM GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO COLLABORATE WITH THE PLANTS GROWING THERE IN AN ENDLESS CYCLE OF INVESTIGATION, DESIGN, REGENERATION AND SUSTAINABILITY. I AM INTERESTED IN PRODUCING MOTIF IMPRESSIONS ALLOWING THE PLANTS TO RENDER AN ACURATE PHYSICAL EXPRESSION. USING LITHOGRAPHIC DRAWING MATERIALS AND PRINTING I AM ABLE TO AQCUIRER A SENSITIVE IMPRESSION OF THESE PLANTS THAT I FIND A TRUE COLLABORATION IN THIS ON-GOING PROJECT. THE GARDENS IN MY BACK YARD CONTAIN OVER 40 DIFFERENT PERENIAL SPECIMENS, SEVEN DIFERENT VARIETIES OF HOSTAS, FIVE DIFFERENTVARIETIES OF TREES, ELEVEN DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF ORNAMENTAL GRASSES, ONE CHERRY TREE, ONE APPLE TREE, RASPBERRIES, BLACKBERRIES, ELDERBERRIES, AND FIVE DIFFERENT TYPES OF BUSHES.

Biography

Gregory Page received his M.F.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1977. He is Associates Professor Emeritus of Print Media and Drawing in the Department of Art at Cornell University, College of Architecture, Art and Planning. Page is a co-founder of the Ink Shop Printmaking Center/Olive Branch Press in Ithaca, New York. Page’s prints explore horticultural documentation allowing the plants to reveal a true expression of themselves reflecting, science, location and sustainability. Page has exhibited internationally including at the He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China and Gallery Ami & Kanoko, Osaka, Japan. See below for more exhibitions.