Medium: Mezzotint
Dimensions: 7 x 8 3/4 inches (image)
Artist details: American, 1953
Date finished: 1982
Edition: of 75

Recommended by Nikki (Art Photographer / Marketing and Exhibitions Specialist):

Carol Wax is an expert mezzotint printmaker (a time-consuming process that uses extreme lights and darks to build up an image on a copperplate). In this scene fire, twine, and darkness (with time as a witness) play an important role in Wax’s narrative. To feed the light, the twine must burn, but there is a finite amount of the consumable resource before the flame inevitably goes out and it becomes dark.

Medium: Etching
Dimensions: 9 3/4 x 7 1/8 inches (Plate) 13 5/8 x 11 1/8 inches (Sheet)
Signature: Signed
Artist details: Japanese, 1966
Edition: of 20

Recommended by Nikki (Fine Print Photographer / Marketing and Digital Content Specialist):

Obata’s piece is delightfully charming. It’s as though I am looking through a window I wiped condensation off of to better see the snowfall outside. A pet dog is even reflected in one of the streaking, water droplets. The winter scene feels comforting and cozy, complete with a tiny bird flying around the dormant trees in the snow.

Medium: Woodcut
Dimensions: 7 1/2 x 12 inches (Image) 13 x 17 inches (Sheet)
Signature: Signed
Artist details: American, 1937 - 2012
Date finished: 1986
Edition: of 33

Recommended by Paige (Collections Manager / Marketing Coordinator):

The VW Bus is charming all on its own, but Lockwood Dennis’s version is even better. His woodcut style blends so well with the simple, graphic nature of the bus. This piece is not trying to be perfect, it's just trying to show its true character. It has plenty of nostalgia in the best way, showing a love for the bold graphics of the ad era when sleek and minimal had yet to reign.

Medium: Linocut
Dimensions: 7 x 5 inches (image)
Signature: Signed
Artist details: British / Chinese, 1973
Date finished: 2013
Edition: AP

Recommended by Catherine (Collections Specialist):

Wuon-Gean Ho's colorful linocuts are full of charm and story-telling. This particularly charming piece depicts a fish moving to a new home, seemingly with the help of another fish friend. The bold palette of primary colors and cute expressions call to mind an illustration from a children's book, while the objects the fish has chosen to bring with them increase that feeling of innocence and whimsy. I especially love the potted plant, the toothbrush, and the bicycle (Who doesn't love the image of a fish riding a bicycle?). Looking at this piece reminds me to find the fun and delight in life's new chapters and adventures.

Series: Tarot
Medium: Etching, aquatint
Dimensions: 4 3/8 x 2 3/8 inches (image) 11 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches (sheet)
Signature: Signed
Artist details: Japanese, 1986
Date finished: 2016
Edition: of 20

Recommended by Nikki (Fine Print Photographer / Marketing and Digital Content Specialist):

Takeda’s depiction of the death card is filled with eyes wide open, including on the intense central figure with their hands gracefully crossed, staring straight back at the viewer. In tarot, drawing the death card isn’t always a bad thing. Death is a normal part of life and can mean a new beginning as well as an end to something. As the year winds closer to its own death, this etching is a reminder to be alert and conscious about what in our own lives needs to come to a close and what could use more of our energy. 

Medium: Woodblock
Dimensions: 7 7/8 x 7 7/8 inches (Image) 10 5/8 x 10 5/8 inches (Sheet)
Signature: Signed
Artist details: Japanese, 1940
Edition: of 30

Recommended by Nikki (Fine Print Photographer / Marketing and Digital Content Specialist):

Aoki’s woodcuts have a delightful charm. ‘Everyone on Earth 2’ breaks away from the traditional rectangular woodblock shape and playfully pulls viewers into its circular shape. Inside the circle, there are silhouettes of people in exaggerated poses that make the piece feel kinetic. Aoki’s world full of people has a liveliness to it that is captivating and lightens any mood.

Medium: Wood engraving
Dimensions: 6 7/8 x 4 5/8 inches (Image) 10 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches (Sheet)
Signature: Signed
Artist details: Canadian, 1939
Edition: of 46

Recommended by Catherine (Collections Specialist):

Jim Westergard's charming wood engravings often feature animals in comedic situations, using plays on words and topical humor. This hilariously irreverent print truly needs no explanation and seems especially appropriate in light of all the latest indictment news.

Medium: Lithograph
Dimensions: 8 x 8 inches
Signature: Signed
Artist details: American, 1969
Date finished: 2006

Recommended by Nikki (Fine Print Photographer & Content Publisher):

"In traditional western visual art, women are often depicted lounging and passive, while men are shown in active roles. Here, in Jenny Schmid’s imagined world of DzR, these roles are flipped. A skateboarding young woman is watching a lounging young man read a book. As she rides her skateboard, the young woman is literally breathing life and energy into the square scene built up of vibrant blues and oranges, offset by an analogous yellow background. Jenny Schmid’s work continues to grow in popularity with her contemporary takes on traditional ideas. This piece is one of her few left at Davidson Galleries still available for under $200."

Medium: Etching
Dimensions: 5 3/4 x 4 1/2 inches (image)
Artist details: American, 1950
Date finished: 2007
Edition: of 30

Recommended by Paige (Collections Manager):

"Mary Farrell's etchings have an amazing precision and texture that make her imagery so visceral. In Identity, Farrell uses harsh contrast to cover the figure's shoulders and neck in highlights but shroud their face in shadows. I find so much mystery in the figure - the lack of context encourages anonymity but the face seems so specific, the pose is generic but hostile or at least uninviting, a cold but honest portrait. The title further mystifies me as I wonder how well I know this person from Farrell's image, or what really makes up an identity."

Medium: Etching and engraving
Dimensions: 5 1/8 x 5 1/8 inches
Signature: Signed
Artist details: Russian, 1976
Date finished: 2018
Edition: AP of XX

Recommended by Suzannah (Marketing and Communications Manager):

Ivan Rusachek’s dreamlike etchings deliver the viewer into a liminal world. In “Full Moon - 100 Years of Solitude,” he references the magic realist masterpiece of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The woman depicted in this etching looks right into the viewer, much the way characters from Marquez’s novel see through time and even their own narrative. The symbol of the moon is at once a window into into the world and a shield from it. Rusachek’s interpretation of “One Hundred Years of Solitude” exemplify his ability to translate the essence of ephemeral stories that touch the heart of humanity, conveying meaning while retaining complex mystery.

#349431

Medium: Reduction woodcut
Dimensions: 8 x 10 inches (image)
Signature: Signed
Artist details: American, 1938
Date Finished: 1985
Edition: of 180

Recommended by Nikki (Fine Print Photographer & Content Publisher):
"Gordon Mortensen uses precise registration and his keen eye for layering color in this reduction woodcut. Mortensen prints a single color of ink; cuts away a small amount of wood; inks the same block in a different color, before cutting away more from the block; and repeating for as many different colors as the viewer can spot. This process can be daunting for many artists because once you cut the block, there is no going back. The result of Mortensen’s intense labor is a wide variety of texture and an expert build up of layers into atmospheric perspective that make for a stunning landscape."

Series: Friends
Medium: Intaglio and chine-collé
Dimensions: 6 x 4 inches
Signature: Signed
Artist details: Japanese, 1960
Date finished: 2013
Edition: of 20

Recommended by Suzannah (Marketing and Communications Manager):
"Tomiyuki Sakuta’s haunting and dreamlike prints constantly shake me to my core and capture my imagination for hours. John 助運 is no different; It comes from a series of prints, Friends, in which Sakuta drew the faces of people from his first impression of their character. The eerie twisting of roots or fibers of John 助運 left me searching for a face among the disorder. Sakuta’s technique creates tactile lines that root me in my body, but in an image that unsettles and intrigues me."

Medium: Intaglio and linocut
Dimensions: 4 x 6 inches (image)
Signature: Signed
Artist details: British / Chinese, 1973
Date finished: 2009
Edition: of 20

Recommended by Nikki (Fine Print Photographer & Content Publisher):
"Wuon Gean Ho’s Devour V is from  a series of intaglios she created in 2009. This series begins with a woman asleep, laying on top of a tiger. The cat awakes first and begins walking around until the woman also awakes and opens her feral-looking eyes. They separate from one another, and begin sizing each other up as they circle. They grapple, but do eventually come to terms with each other (tiger licks the woman’s face) before dissolving into each other and  the landscape. Devour V illustrates the moment when the woman is fully awake to her struggle with full realization of her circumstances and is actively fighting. Part of being human is coming to terms with our own wild cats that can wake up in us. Eventually, there will be peace and acceptance, but we first have to face them. Ho makes this struggle look sensual and chaotic with her use of subtle plate tone wiping and overlapping hatch marks in the plate. She effectively captures how it can feel to be rolling about with one’s own demons in the intimate space of our own heads."

Medium: Woodcut
Dimensions: 7 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches (Blocks) 10 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches (Sheet)
Signature: Signed
Artist details: Japanese, 1940
Date finished: 2008
Edition: of 35

Recommended by Rebecca (Gallery Manager):
"Tetsuo Aoki is a master of illustrating people, relationships, and emotions. This woodcut in particular speaks volumes about the world today. The figure's back is arched in order to put their head in their exaggerated hands. The posture speaks to the angst and despondency of the main figure, as does the darkness of the ink. Meanwhile, through the gap we can see other people walking by as if all is normal. In the Hand is a small and intimate woodcut that mirrors how I feel while overwhelmed by these tragic events."

Medium: Ink drawing on paper
Dimensions: 6 x 5 inches (sheet)
Signature: Signed
Artist details: American, 1929 - 2004
Date finished: 1975

Recommended by Paige (Collections Manager):
"Wesley Wehr was known for living and creating modestly. Legend has it, he would carry an entire exhibition's worth of artwork in a small briefcase and could be found drinking coffee in the U District with his briefcase in tow. But what his drawings and paintings lack in size they make up for in charm and detail. His imaginary figures are drawn so carefully, without any stray lines or second thoughts, as if he always knew how the figure would emerge from the paper. Although I would never have invented the same figure, it made perfect sense to me from the moment I saw it."

#47916

Medium: Woodcut
Dimensions: 12 x 8 inches (image) 17 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches (sheet)
Signature: Signed
Artist details: American, 1987
Date finished: 2019
Edition: of 10

Recommended by Emma (Marketing & Communications Manager):
"I'm delighted and pleasantly surprised by how lasting an impression this graphic yucca print has left on me since first seeing it. The vertical format, rich black gradient, and unexpected use of negative space are simple and satisfying. There's nothing to overthink and everything to enjoy. It's incredibly charming how Spitzack has taken an ordinary subject and made such striking imagery with it."

Medium: Wood engraving
Dimensions: 5 x 6 1/2 inches
Artist details: Japanese, 1964
Date finished: 2007
Edition: of 50

Recommended by Paige (Collections Manager):
"Toru Sugita is a California-based Japanese artist and teacher who creates a variety of landscape and city scene prints. He has spent years thinking about changing light and is an expert at capturing each specific type of light that is unique to a place and a moment. On My Balcony I is a beautiful, simple wood engraving that captures a very individual scene: "my" balcony. It isn't lavish or curated; it isn't full of lush plants or exciting people - it's simple and sincere. The intimate process of carving a wood block is felt in this small piece. I feel the block's texture and the quiet moments that the artist spent with it. Now that we often think about curating images of our lives to only present the very best and most exciting aspects of ourselves, I am fascinated by Sugita's emphasis on the ordinary."

Medium: Reduction woodcut
Dimensions: 6 x 8 inches (image)
Signature: Signed
Artist details: American, 1938
Date Finished: 1982
Edition: of 300

Recommended by Emma (Marketing & Communications Manager):
"Gordon Mortensen is known for his use of vibrant color palettes and his richly detailed reduction woodcut landscapes. In Winter Sumac, the palette is just ever so slightly 'muted' in comparison - if you consider gorgeous lilac and fuschia tones muted. This scene, like all of his landscapes, makes me want to go outside and appreciate the beauty of nature during this cold winter season."

Medium: Etching
Dimensions: 5 x 4 7/8 inches
Signature: Signed
Artist details: Russian, 1959
Date finished: 2010
Edition: of 60

Recommended by Nikki (Fine Print Photographer & Content Publisher):
"This tiny etching is expertly crafted by Eastern European artist, Vladimir Zuev, to illustrate the story of Leda and the swan (aka, Zeus pretending to be a swan). Zeus seduces or rapes Leda, depending on the storyteller. Zeus fills the background, but subtly, despite his violent action. Instead, Zuev centers the story on Leda and does not overly sexualize her like most popular depictions, including not giving her hair. There are clues to her gender, but she is closed off to the viewer with her crossed legs and bent arms - not available for visual consumption. Instead, Leda is looking directly at the viewer - forcing us to look at her humanity.  

This image serves as a reminder that violence towards women is still prevalent, but not just in overt actions. It exists in the books we read, the media we consume, the words we use, the stories we retell, the art we purchase. This small image packs a very large punch and reminds us to critically analyze our own behaviors and constructs of thinking around women and violence."