Much of What is Seen is Not: Frank Boyden as Printmaker

February 23 – June 8, 2014

Frank Boyden
Owl and the Moon, 1998
Cliché Verre, edition 7/15
8 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches
Racine Art Museum, Gift of the Artist
Photography: Jon Bolton

This exhibition debuts a selection of prints presented to RAM by the nationally recognized ceramicist, Frank Boyden. This gift of nearly 30 of his prints and folios from the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s depict fish, animals, and insects—which are also subjects in his ceramic work.

While artists are not always interested in—or successful at—exploring their ideas in different dimensions, Boyden has pursued concepts through multiple media for decades. He was trained as a printmaker, painter, and art historian; but he has created sculpture and public art. Boyden admits to being “seduced” by clay, a material he has worked with since the early 1970s. Inspired by Pre-Columbian and contemporary ceramics, Boyden has often chosen to use an anagama—or wood-fired—kiln to produce his clay vessels.

Boyden has produced almost 400 editions since his return to printmaking in 1984. Not only does he design and create the compositions, Boyden also pulls the prints himself, working in a large studio full of equipment that he built. A strong believer in creating art that reflects the natural world, Boyden connects his animal imagery to the species that inhabit the area near his home at the mouth of the Salmon River on the Oregon Coast.

More About the Exhibition

Exhibition Notes (PDF)

Press Room