“I just fell under [her] spell,” Victoria Sancho Lobis, director at Pomona’s Benton Museum of Art, said, explaining why she invited Black artist Chakaia Booker for an artist talk.
On Nov. 8, Essye Klempner, director of programming and partnerships at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop (RBPMW), spoke with friend and colleague Chakaia Booker. Klempner and Booker met at the RBPMW in 2009. They shared their artistic journeys and reflected on the legacy of master printmaker Robert Blackburn.
Booker, known for her large outdoor sculptures and black and white abstract prints, discussed her process and inspirations alongside Kempler, whose own printmaking focuses on organic forms like leaves and grasses. Most notably, Klempner’s exhibit at the Gazebo Gallery in Kent, Ohio features bird baths with ominous sculpted figures swimming, standing and bending over into the water — reminiscent of Alberto Giacometti’s “Walking Man” series.
“I was mostly a painter [at first],” Klempner said. “I painted from life. I didn’t want to paint from reproductions or photographs, so I would say I’m still an observational based artist, but I’m not painting anymore. I am making mostly ceramics and prints.”
The NYC-based workshop welcomes everyone to learn to operate the press with the assistance of monitors and dedicated staff.
“We haven’t changed our prices since the ’90s, and this is in honor of Robert Blackburn, where he wanted to make sure that people could have access no matter what,” Kempler said.
Klempner described how Blackburn was constantly immersed in the rich cultural spirit of the Harlem Renaissance. As a child, Blackburn attended the Utopia Children’s House, a daycare where kids could explore arts and crafts; renowned dynamic artist Jacob Lawrence famously attended. Utopia Children’s House provided Blackburn with a community that celebrated Black artistry and expression.
Blackburn developed a distinct Cubist style. Continuing the Harlem Renaissance’s redefinition of the avant-garde art movement, Blackburn’s work celebrated the beauty of Black faces, bodies and experiences.
Klempner displayed an interview of Dindga Mcannon, a member of the workshop since its inception in 1947.
“There were no possibilities for Black artists in New York, [so Blackburn] just decided to make his own,” Mcannon said.
Known for her post-industrial style, Booker crafts massive, often ominous sculptures from found materials. Sculptured black webs can tower up to 35 feet. Although she held a few apprenticeships in ceramics, Booker gravitated towards what would become her signature style: working with tires and found materials. Yet Booker’s introduction to art was sewing.
“I grew up doing a lot of sewing, and textile [that] was my first sort of art form,” Booker said. “I’m still continuing to produce [textile] work. I sculpt myself with cloth every day before I start working, so it’s always a part of my process.”
Booker has worked with rubber for nearly 30 years. In the 1980s there was “less money, lots of garbage,” as she put it. Tires were just one component of the discarded materials that covered the streets of Manhattan’s East Village, where she still resides today.
Booker’s works dismantle the tire’s uniformity and distort its vocation. The dystopian “Serendipity,” a weaved tire piece in the shape of an outsized question mark, interrogates consumerism and environmentalism. Juxtaposed with the streets of Newark, New York, a rural upstate town, the piece prompts passersby to consider their role as urban consumers.
“You’re creating a world. You have to always be thinking about, ‘Is it hanging from the ceiling? Is it standing up on its own? Is it gonna be on a wall?’ You have to [prepare] what that thing is going to structurally be.”
When asked what inspires her as an artist, Booker simply said, “Getting up every day and continuing to work.”
Perhaps her most monumental work is “Shaved Portions,” a 35-foot-tall tire sculpture that currently stands in NYC’s Broadway plaza between 39th and 40th street.
“Shaved Portions is a powerful work … it urges [viewers] to contemplate the effect of waste and how it is interconnected with our common societal experinece,” Barbara A. Blair, president of the Garment District Alliance said in an article introducing its release.
When asked what she keeps in mind when making these sculptures, Booker emphasized awareness of surroundings.
“You’re creating a world,” Booker said. “You have to always be thinking about, ‘Is it hanging from the ceiling? Is it standing up on its own? Is it gonna be on a wall?’ You have to [prepare] what that thing is going to structurally be … With outdoor work you always have to be thinking about the weather and the elements as well.”
Booker’s prints extend her artistic language into two dimensions: flat and vertical. Showing a similar response to her approach and materials, her printmaking is an imitation of her sculpture method where she uses chisels, drills and routers to disfigure woodblock surfaces.
“[I realized] it was [very important] to make 2D work along with your 3D work,” Booker said.
Booker’s prints draw from similar artistic language as that of her sculptures.“Using the energy that you have, people can appreciate what it is you do in different materials [it’s important] to expand the conversation, in whatever way [you can],” Booker said.
It is crucial for the RBPMW to collaborate with artists who recognize that the print shop is a community, not their own studio — a value of utmost importance.
“We can’t shut down the studio because there is a famous artist,” Klempner said. “It is not a private studio.”
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Victoria Sancho Lobis’ name as “Victoria Sanchez Lewis.” The article has been updated acccordingly. TSL regrets this error.