Arriving in Portland, Oregon for the annual SGCI (Southern Graphics Council International) conference to beautiful sunshine and blue skies was unexpected, due to the city’s mostly reliable reputation of being amongst the most rainy places in the USA.
Thanks to an Artists’ international development fund from the British Council & ACE, myself and artist Sarah Jane Lawton were able to present our ‘Language of Gestures’ collaborative project to the SGCI members at this years conference. The project was launched at last years’ IMPACT International Printmaking Conference in Hangzhou, China, where we presented the collaborative print work at the Sanshang Gallery during the conference. We decided to re-present the project in Portland, this March in the ‘Projects & Demonstrations’ series.
The SGCI conference is a huge event bringing together printmakers from all America and beyond. The schedule over the 4 days is packed with opportunities to see exhibitions across the city, listen to papers and panel discussions, attend demonstrations and collaborate on site specific print projects. We felt extremely pleased to be part of the event and took full advantage of all that was on offer to us as delegates. We took part in the members portfolio print exchange, the mentoring sessions and the open portfolio sessions, giving the opportunity to present our work to fellow printmakers, academics, students and collectors.
