Sherry Jankiewicz

I started making "Printerly Paintings" in the Spring of 2017.  They begin with a piece of wood, usually Baltic Birch Plywood, and the surface is carved with marks, lines, and brushstrokes.  The carved marks are filled with Acrylic Paint, and the surface is rolled with Water-based Relief Printing Ink.  Often the surface will then be printed on using screen printing techniques.  More recently, I have experimented with cutting up my paintings to remix and assemble them in a new way.

I have since completed many relief prints using linoleum, but today I am mostly working in wood.  Carving wood energizes me, and linoleum provides a way of creative mark making that I crave.  Most of my work is relief reduction prints, however few are actually a true edition.  I choose to vary my colors in my editions, so that each print is unique in color schemes, but may be similar in imagery.  Silkscreen printmaking, and letterpress allow me to explore editioning using the relief technique in new and interesting ways.

What does one do with all the prints that were proofs, mistakes, never fully realized art, or just not selling? When my stash of previous work began to mount, I decided to use them in collages. After trimming a print, I realized I really liked seeing the prints in strips; like coded information that built the image. I began cutting many prints into these longer strips and organizing them by color and value, creating a historical catalogue of the marks and colors I have used over the last 19 years! I enjoy the playful interactions that the papers have when placed next to each other. I also appreciate how the process speaks to the idea of potential. I believe everything and everyone has the potential to exceed expectations and achieve a higher sense of being. Through collage, I can finally bring these prints that were not working in their current form to a greater purpose. There are often circles within these pieces representing the duality of systematic structures and the spiritual essence of nature that assist in achieving greater potential.

I have explored this idea using my paintings on carved wood as well. These pieces show images that are interrupted, yet when combined still create a harmony throughout. In cutting up these pieces, I am changing the rhythm of the original piece. There are moments of surprising unity when rearranged, and other moments that stop unexpectedly, and yet it rings more truth than the original. If you have never taken a saw to your work, I highly recommend it!

This investigation into Ferris Wheels started off simply, I just wanted to carve a Ferris Wheel and make prints. As I carved, I thought more and more about the Ferris Wheel and how it really represents a wheel of life. I connect the design to have metaphorical meaning to the spiritual world and connect the motion to time passing over a lifetime. I connect how we experience time as circular instead of a straight line that time-lines are often recorded on. I connect the idea that we are passengers in this life, and other people climb on and off our Ferris Wheel as we ride through experiences. We aim to take on different view points, yet have little room to move around. When I shared my Ferris Wheel Prints, I was amazed by how many people told me they had very big life moments near or on a Ferris Wheel, or how they felt scared or exhilarated while riding one. The design of Ferris Wheels have drastically improved our comfort over time, from open air passenger cars to air conditioned sealed compartments. I connect this with the idea that over time, we have become more and more uncomfortable with deep emotions, as one might experience the anxiety of a shaking compartment or the heat of the day or the wind in your face in an open air passenger car. In a way, we are desensitizing ourselves from feeling anything but the notion of being high above the world. The Ferris Wheel to this day brings up more questions and metaphorical connections than answers, and I remain curious to continue to investigate them through research and art.

During the summer of 2023, I had the pleasure of attending a Frogman’s Printmaking workshop for monoprinting at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. Although I have experience in monoprinting, I was looking to bring a sense of play back to my work. My teacher, Heinrich Toh, was incredible at inspiring us to think imaginatively and taught us to print photographic imagery into our work using a paper lithography technique. I had selected my images intuitively before arriving at the workshop and found I was combining them in surprising and sometimes humorous ways (which is similar to the nature of collage work). The combinations of imagery and my mark-making began to reveal new meanings and new metaphors I had not considered working with before. I enjoyed combining photos from previous works of art into these new works, allowing the past to play with the present.

I love that my work can bring so much color and joy to a space!

“Don’t use all the bright colors in one piece; it won’t create a mood.”

“Why would you carve a woodblock and not print it?”

 “Never use small brayers to ink your woodblock: they will leave marks.”

“Why would you give up a life of stability and comfort for a life that is insecure and unpredictable?”

These dualities, complexities, and contradictions are what make up the piece “You’re Doing it Wrong”, a three-panel hybrid of painting and printmaking on carved woodblocks.  It reflects a poetic interpretation of an internal scape, expressing how the mind adapts or struggles to process new information that is different from the old.  The mind is where our perception of life experiences and our view of the world around us exist, and both the mind and the world are constantly changing.  The rates of change may vary, but both are in continuous motion.  Rationality collides with emotion and desire, while confusion and ambiguity circle the psyche.  As the mind constructs meaning, there is tension, balanced by a spirit of optimism that everything will be all right.

The brush marks are an energetic language of the mind, one that is cryptic and coded and not always understood.  Painted on to the surface of wood through an improvisational method, each is a response to the preceding mark.  The brush marks are enhanced and inscribed through the vigorous process of carving, creating a record of the individual and inspiring constructive change within.  Carving wood is torturous but fun.  Color is the path to our spirit, our inner child who takes her box of 64 Crayola crayons and creates an unending, naïve, yet pure and hopeful view of the world.

Taking on the notion of change, our spirit reminds us to refrain from expectation and judgments, and to consider this method of improvisation of act and react to life events.  Rather than feeling stuck for failing to do the “right” thing, a former professor rephrased a new aim for living a more fulfilling life: “You’re Doing it Wrong, but in a really interesting and intriguing way.”    

I worked on a campaign for the Uneek Shoe when Keen and PNCA partnered up to promote creativity, the new sandal, and the graduate school experience.  I played a role in a video advertisement, provided artwork for the backdrop of the shoe advertisement, and helped organize an exhibition for the graduate students at the Keen garage in Portland, Oregon.  I demonstrated carving into a woodblock at the event, and enjoyed speaking to the community about Keen, printmaking, and PNCA. 

I first want to recognize Kimberly Kent Art Brokerage for extending and organizing this amazing opportunity for me. Also to Ben Dye, a wonderful sculpture artist in the surrounding Portland, OR area who manufactured my design in metal and installed it in Auburn, WA. Some of these photos were taken by them. A million thanks to you both!!

This project started as a call for art for a Multi-care hospital who was looking for art to hang on their medical supply/storage building recently built. The request was for an image to represent the items that were stored inside the supply building, such as gasses, piping, and electrical wiring, but also include imagery from the Pacific Northwest region or the healthcare field. My design included all three, and I will walk you through the process of design to completion in the photos to come.

In 2012 I had the opportunity to travel to Blantyre, Malawi, Africa to visit a friend, and together along with a Malawian psychologist we formed a mural painting project to coordinate with an effort to clean the Blantyre city park.  The three of us worked with a group of children from the Samaritan Trust foundation, and another group who provides daily activities and food to children in need.  I coordinated with the psychologist on the design of the mural to depict the geography of Malawi, using images of the landscape, Malawi currency, and images inspired by local African artists.  I worked with the children to paint the mural, and while we spoke different languages (the children spoke Chichewa), I learned how much a gesture, a smile, and a few animal noises could communicate! We celebrated the mural with a small feast, t-shirts, and music in the park, and I left the groups sketchbooks and drawing tools so they could continue their own artistic visions.

My artistic process is vital to the outcome of my work.  Mostly intuitive, and at times overly laborious, I begin a piece not knowing what the final work will be.  I react from one step to the next, listening to what the work needs, and seeking to discover the information the work will contain.  I save and accumulate scraps from my process, and hope to find ways to highlight these in a more finished form. Through making, I stumble upon metaphors that connect my actions, decisions, and materials to ideas about human behavior, perception, and lifestyle choices that encourage me to continue growing and moving boldly down my chosen path.

I post many in progress photos on my instagram page. If you like these, check out: @sherryjankiewicz

I taught in the Howard County Public School System in Maryland for 13 years before leaving to pursue my own art.  I love teaching.  Art gives students a voice, a place to explore, a place to play, and a place to take risks and build confidence.  I enjoyed teaching the benefits of the process, through lessons enriched with personal discovery, art history, criticism, and interdisciplinary and cultural connections.  I connected with the community through art from hosting 4 successful Empty Bowls Event nights, one Paint Night event, and 11 Mural intramurals for 8th graders.  These murals along with temporary installations brightened up the school and showed that creativity was alive here.