Erin Jenkins

Linocut prints | Carved Wood Blocks | Artist Books | Notecards

May 2024 Featured artist of the month

Erin Jenkins: Meander

May 2 - June 4, 2024

Opening Event: Friday, May 3, 5-8 pm during Gallery Walk.

About the Artist

I’m a maker. I feel most fulfilled when metaphorically enveloped in the ‘warm hug’ that is the magical moment when creativity meets productivity.

I love working in many two-dimensional mediums, but am always lured back to carving woodblocks and creating linocut relief prints. The necessary decisiveness, immediacy of the emergence of an image, and the bold visual contrast of mark-making makes for an incredibly satisfying process. This is not a forgiving medium. There is no covering up, painting over, or erasing mistakes. There are only opportunities to plan, then pivot, adapt, and figure out how to make an image work… or at the very least, learn something for next time. Printmaking blends my love of creativity (in carving of blocks to create an image) and process (in the editioning of prints) to create the final product.

I’m drawn to art that shows the artist’s hand, and like to leave evidence of that in my own work. In my linocut relief prints, one can identify individual carved marks throughout; a combination of gestural and deliberate hatch lines visible in the final result.

I’m originally from Western Mass., with a BFA in Printmaking from Hartford Art School. I’ve taught printmaking classes and workshops, and have made a career by working at arts organizations in Connecticut and Vermont. I currently reside in Brattleboro.

— Erin Jenkins