Ordinance. Intaglio.  35″ x 83″. 2003.

Charles Cohan is currently Professor of Art and Printmaking Program Chair at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  This is where I first encountered him during my 2001-2002 year on exchange from Montana State University. As a graphic design major, I took Charlie’s relief printmaking class merely to fill out my studio schedule.  Following this course with Charlie, I switched majors to fine art with an emphasis in printmaking, and have never regretted the decision. Cohan is an inspirational, knowledgeable mentor and a dedicated artist that continually pushes himself and his students conceptually and technically.

Cohan received a BFA in Printmaking from California College of Arts and Crafts and an MFA in Printmaking from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He has held professorships at Florida State University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Recent research and teaching projects have taken Charlie to Whanganui Polytech in New Zealand, Hard Ground Printmakers in Cape Town, South Africa, the University of Georgia Study Abroad Program in Cortona, Italy, the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington, and the Fundacion Ludwig in Havana, Cuba, for which he received a U.S. Department of State research travel grant.

Cohan’s latest solo exhibitions were installed at the Curators office in Washington DC and Pyramid Atlantic in Maryland, Artlink Gallery in Seoul, Korea, 1708 Gallery in Richmond, Virginia, and the Biennial of Hawaii Artists at The Contemporary Museum in Honolulu.

I recently had the pleasure to printerview Charles Cohan about his career and experience as an artist.  The following text is the result of several emails & phone conversations.

Erika:   When did you know you were an artist?  What led up to this discovery?

Charlie:  Senior in high school, when asked the question ‘what would you like to study in college’. I was raised in an environment that encouraged my tendency to want to make images. My mom always expressed excitement with regard to my drawings from an early age, and as she was an art student herself, the home-front provided early exposure to the studio environment.

Erika:   Why do you create artwork – to what end?

Charlie: Why?  In no specific order:

a. Ego.

b. For my kids to remember me by.

c. It confuses and thus challenges me.

d. The need to be working constantly with my hands.

e. I love the tools.

To What End? In no specific order:

a. economic security

b. developing ideas from the inside out

c. leaving images behind for future critique and consideration

Erika: This anthropological approach, the notion of our artwork as evidence or clues to who we are as artists, is interesting to me.  I’ve always loved how visual arts allow leeway for interpretation, based on the viewer’s background.  Your work, and you as an artist could be interpreted as many different things by many different people.

Fathom. Intaglio. 60″ x 44″. 2004

Erika: As someone who has never sold much artwork, it is truly inspirational to know those of you who are able to sell work as a reliable source of income.  Where have you discovered a niche for yourself?

Charlie (paraphrased):  I was fortunate enough to meet a gallery director who really took an interest in me.  She limits the number of artists she represents in her gallery and has an understanding of my work and in me as an artist, so she is better able to advocate & sell my work.

Remember, galleries are only one source of revenue.  There are many grants set-up to support the arts, but it seems many young artists are not aware of them.  As entrepreneurs, we all need to focus on alternative avenues for arts revenue. Recently graduated students of mine have started printed-clothing lines, fabric businesses, et. al., all with an eye towards the economic expanse and diversity of their skills via printmaking. We in education need to focus more on these alternative sources of revenue for artistic endeavors and encourage our students beyond the seemingly overemphasis on the dominant ‘gallery’ paradigm.

Erika:  Why & when did you discover printmaking?

Charlie: Initially, I discovered printmaking through my mother, Doris Cohan, who was a student in intaglio and screenprinting courses at Portland State University when I was 7-10 years old, and always had her prints and books on printmaking in our house. At Garfield High School in Seattle I was provided the opportunity to make prints through their arts magnet program. Made some really cool ‘cutout cardboard wrapped in aluminum foil’ collograph prints in 10^th grade, which has honestly been influential from that day forward.

Erika: Has there been a change you have noticed in the availability or necessity of an arts education in the marketplace at large?  Is there enough professional practice for art students to aspire to anything other than arts professors?  Is academia just begetting academics?

Charlie (Paraphrased): I’m not sure we are doing a very good job of teaching students alternative entrepreneurial outlets to the gallery system, but we should be. And we are certainly not teaching them how to teach per se.

Hydra. Lithography, Wax. 92″ x 96″. 2004.

Erika:  For what reasons did you know printmaking was & still is an appropriate medium for your artistic expression?

Charlie: While there is a proper, or appropriate, media/material waiting out there for any idea and creative direction, the transfer of ink onto paper under pressure via an intermediate two-dimensional matrix just happens to suit my visual intentions. In short, I trust an image produced under the application of significant physical pressure, in indelible ink, on fine paper. You can’t fake it.

While my experience in media outside of printmaking is somewhat limited, I have tried to maintain attempts at sculptural experimentation in wood and glass, and see these as having a growing importance beyond the exclusively printed direction of my past projects.

Erika: Can you give a little more information on these more sculptural projects and perhaps reflect on how they may have influenced your printmaking and art-making in general?

Charlie (paraphrased): I like the fact that I can physically reach into sculptural work; obviously I can’t do this in the same way with print.  Perhaps this is just a way of trying to create more  ‘dimensional’ plates in a sense. Making sculpture is a really humbling experience for me, because I know I face the criticism of those who have been practicing that particular media, and focusing on that form, for many years. And, as I have long maintained, sculptors are the best drafts-persons.

Erika:  In what direction (s) do you suspect printmaking will go?  Are there particular processes that have already begun to obliterate all others?  Are there thematic trends for printmaking different, or similar, to all of contemporary art making?

Charlie: I worry that the making of prints is becoming ‘too easy’, both stylistically and materially.

Where printmaking is going seems to be everywhere, as everything is anywhere these days . As far as current thematic trends, everybody’s everything. Hard to see the trend from the fad. Show me progressive work that is not part and parcel of the dominant thematic trends, and we can have a discussion about truly interesting work.

Terrarium III. Intaglio, Lithography.  22″ x 30″. 2005.

Erika:  What do you consider to be your first real “breakthrough” exhibition? At what stage in life did that happen for you, and what types of obstacles did you have to go through prior to that opportunity?

Charlie: I actually never had any ‘early’ breakthrough exhibitions. The usual mix of competitive juried print competitions in the days immediately out of grad school leading to invitational exhibitions, group, two person, solo, et al. But none that really put my work on the map.

It was actually not until 1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA   2003? Early mid career, 15 years out of grad school! Exposed my work to Andrea Pollan at Curators office and the folks at Pyramid Atlantic.

The major obstacle leading up to this exhibition was simply that I was not making work that was good enough to build a strong solo show upon.

Erika: How did you finally land that show?

Charlie: Cranbrook graduate school colleague Mr. Peter Calvert.  He was the director of 1708 in the early 2000’s We kept in touch, he set me up.

Erika: What sacrifices were you making at this stage of your career?

Charlie: In terms of my studio production, the greatest early, and current, sacrifice is my commitment to a full time university level teaching position.

Erika: Were you satisfied with the gallery you showed at and the review your work received?

Charlie: Yes, completely.

Terminal Diagrams.  Collograph. 6′ x 10′. 2005.

Erika: What did it take to gain a second and third show?  How aggressive did you have to be to perpetuate a constant exhibition schedule?

Charlie: I made more work – a lot more work.  As I tend to make distinct and specifically different bodies of work, the variety of the projects seemed to perpetuate the shows more than any other factor as they were able to lend themselves to various niches and thus diverse exhibition and gallery types.

Erika:  It seems as though we all experience plateaus both in our art making and in our careers.  Looking back, when were you able to move from this preliminary stage of exhibiting and progress towards becoming well recognized?

Charlie: Actually, I don’t know how to identify the plateaus or stages. Don’t know if I will ever be able to see the hills from the valleys. If the work is going well in the studio, that’s a hilltop. If not, the shadows loom large. I don’t see certain ‘exhibitions’ or forms of ‘recognition’ as reflecting the highs, or lack thereof as signifying the lows.  Hopefully, the studio narrative gets beyond this sort of evaluation. Just because one is showing well does not mean that the work is good.

Erika: Can you point to certain events or exhibitions, which projected your career forward at each of those stages?

Charlie: I have to say that the Southern Graphics council did more for my early career than any other single mechanism. Almost biennial presentations at their annual conferences from 1992 – 2002 and the connections that I made during this time were very important.

Terrarium VI. Intaglio & Lithography. 30″ x 40″. 2006.

Travel has had a very significant effect upon my career. Teaching and/or exhibiting throughout North America and South Africa, New Zealand, Korea, and Italy has impacted not only my relations with an expanding community of artists but also produced extended perspectives and insights throughout the print world.

Erika: Where are you now in the trajectory that you have laid out for yourself?

Charlie: I have never laid out a trajectory for my career. Where I am going, hopefully much farther. Seriously, with respect to the term trajectory, I say keep traveling further away, both figuratively and literally.  Many laid-out trajectories are so tight, so preplanned, so predictable. With my work, I strive to maintain multiple trajectories, and try not to resist the contradictions that arise amidst their differences.

Erika: For years, you have taught, how difficult has it been for you to balance your teaching career with your artistic career?  What makes you remain in academia?  What do we academic types tend to focus too much on?  And what not enough?

Charlie: Four answers to 4 questions:

a. Very difficult. b. Money and teaching. c. Professional practice. d. Magic.

F1, 08 I – IX. Collograph. 46″ x 40″. 2010.

Erika: Do you still work just as hard today to “get your work out there” as you did before you were so well known?

Charlie: Yes, and more so.  As the old adage goes, ‘the more you show, the more you show’. And my personal take “the more you make, the more you ‘have’ to show, thus the more you show”.

Erika: Over the course of your career, are there some sacrifices that you wish you hadn’t made?  Or any choices that you might have modified with hindsight?

Charlie: I don’t really think like this.  Modification in hindsight is a scary thing for me to even think about.

Erika: When you think back over the decades of art making that you have sustained, what individual works or bodies of work do you feel most satisfied about?

Charlie: That would be the work that has not yet been completed. I am honestly never satisfied with anything that I make. That is one of the reasons why I keep making – the drive to make better.

Erika: What is your best advice for emerging artists?

Charlie: Work you butt off, be cool, strive to understand the relative nature of the contemporary art world, and continually challenge yourself anew in your studio. Don’t be complacent with your imagery, content, materials, or tools. Always know that someone else is out there kicking your ass, right now as a matter of fact. And travel!!

F1,08 X – IIIXX. Collograph. 46″ x 40″. 2010.

Erika: Which contemporary artists are most engaging to you?

Charlie: Sculptors Anish Kapoor and Martin Puryear have been very interesting for me to revisit as of late.

Erika: Have you ever noticed the work of those around you (students, wife, etc.) directly influencing your own imagery or practice?  If so, could you give an example?

Charlie: Actually, I consciously avoid the influences of my students and my wife, and enjoy celebrating the differences. Although, my 4 year old daughter is definitely giving me a run for it as her drawing skills are far superior to mine and I really admire her recent work. Seriously!  I admit that I consciously steer away from directions that I see developing around me, and have been told that my work would do fine to be made in a cave. I tend to be influenced more by opposition than by similarity. Thus, I am much more affected by what is not going on directly around me than by what is – kind of an influence by absence.

Erika: As a former student, this statement is interesting and telling.  I always admired how you were able to identify your students’ goals and offer advice to help to help them best technically and conceptually attain them, without imposing your ideas and methods on them.

Charlie (Added): Thanks Erika, that’s nice of you to say. I always tell the classes at the beginning of every semester that the UH print program is much more interested in a school of thought dominated by diversity than similarity. But, I am also not hesitant to give away my specific tricks.

Erika: What is the question that I should have asked?

Charlie: What papers have you recently been printing on and why?

Erika: If you were not an artist, what would you be?

Charlie: Don’t know.  Early on I wanted to be an architect, but I was not good at math.

*For more information on Charles Cohan, visit his web site at: http://www.charlescohan.com/

In the midst of our dilemma, a member from our own board made a very generous proposal.  He offered to match funds donated by other members of the Board of Directors up to one-thousand dollars through the end of January. We sent out a fundraising challenge letter, emphasizing the importance of all board members participating, no matter how great or small the contribution.  I am accustomed to this type of fundraising campaign from within, because the private school I teach for asks for all staff & faculty to contribute to the school’s fundraising.

Obtaining 100% participation in this fundraiser would both create an immediate solution to help meet our financial crunch for the Annual Exhibitions of 2010 and 2011 and offer us the opportunity to mount a larger effort to solicit additional funds from a wider group of donors, indicating that the board has already stepped up to meet some of the critical financial needs we foresee over the next two years.  (I have been told contributors are more likely to donate their own money when members of an organization appear to prioritize funding themselves).

In our letter, we did not ask for any specific amount of money from our board members.  And, we will not be publicizing who contributes and who does not. Soliciting them for donations is highly irregular, since we are a board of volunteers that already gives up a tremendous amount of time and energy serving the needs of the Honolulu Printmakers; as such we have had several complaints from within our board.  Financial issues always have a way of striking an especially stressful cord.

Since hearing of this fundraiser, a private donor outside the organization was impressed enough to make a sizeable donation to the Honolulu Printmakers.  And many of our board members responded quickly.  I believe we already made the $1000 to be matched.  This new fundraiser has already helped to ease the immediate financial needs of our organization.

I invite any comments on this idea or other fundraising options that have worked for organizations with which readers and other blog contributors have been involved.  Perhaps by sharing these options, we can make sure all of our arts organizations stay afloat in this slow economy.

20 colors were laid out in ink can lids ahead of time, for all to dip into.

Two of the artists I worked with: Tom & Perry

Yupo paper makes for a great stencil.

PRINT WEEK IN NYC

While I was in the area, I got to take advantage of “print week” in NYC by attending the print fair at the Armory.  Pace Prints took center stage with its double booth at the entrance of the enormous room.  I was most interested in the work exhibited at Tandem Press (Judy Pfaff’s mixed media print collages), Shark’s Ink (Enrique Chagoya’s accordion print book) and Durham Press (Polly Apfelbaum’s colorful woodblock floral prints).  With a little luck, I’ll be able to schedule a return trip to MONOTHON 2010 and check out even more of print week next year.