KINGSTON, R.I. — May 24, 2006 — A rare showing of recent works on paper by printmaker Dore Page, the University of Rhode Island’s printer-in residence, will be on display at the URI Library on the Kingston Campus next month.

Entitled “The Other Side of the Mirror,” the exhibit runs May 30 to June 30, and features Page’s experiments with constructivism, typography, and the ephemeral decor of popular culture. Free and open to the public, a reception with the artist will be held on Sunday, June 11, from 1 to 4 p.m. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday 1 to 10 p.m.

A book artist and printmaker, Page uses the principles of typography to define a unique fine art form. She creates prints using modern folk-art techniques, printing from wood blocks, pieces of fabric, or other items that present a printable pattern. Traditional hand-letterpress and silk screen printing combine to give her works distinctive contemporary appeal.

Although not a retrospective of the artist’s work, the exhibit includes several early pieces to show how her past work has influenced the current prints.

Each piece of her artwork undergoes as many as 50 individual printing operations. This labor-intensive quality of the process and the extremely low number of prints in each edition make her works unique and very collectible.

Her work is in many collections throughout the world including the Museum of Modern Art, Brown University, and the University of Rhode Island. Her letter press publications and prints are also printed under the publication names Volaphon Books or Sea Plane Editions.

Page was appointed University of Rhode Island ‘s Printer in Residence in 2002. Her artwork is represented by Breslin Fine Arts, Inc., East Greenwich, RI. She lives and maintains her studio in Warwick, RI.

For more information about this exhibit or others at the Library, please contact Karen Ramsay, Acquisitions Librarian, 401-874-4625.

Image above: “Portuguese Kitchen” is included in the exhibit.

More about the artist

Printer in Residence…

Dore Page is a nationally known book artist and printer. Her prints are created using modern folk-art techniques in her Rhode Island studio. Techniques include wood-block, fabric printing, letterpress, and silk screen. Very, very low print runs make the works unique and very collectable.

Page also employs traditional letterpress techniques to her printed works as well. Pages’ works appear under the publication name of Paul Woodbine and are in many collections throughout the world including the Museum of Modern Art, University of Rhode Island, and Brown University. Her letter press publications and prints are also printed under the publication names Volaphon Books or Sea Plane Editions.

Born in Fall River in 1956, her interest in printing was nurtured after she showed an affinity for printing at an early age. As a child, she was given an office printing kit containing rubber sorts and symbols and she has been letterpress printing ever since.

In 1975 Page met a Brown University graduate student who was busy galvanizing the burgeoning literary scene in Providence. College students and local writers were taking the lead of Keith and Rosemary Waldrop’s Burning Deck Press, a staple of Providence’s literary scene since the late sixties. Buying old letterpress equipment to start presses and publishing ventures became very popular fifteen-years before the practical application of desktop publishing. Page, with commercial printing experience under her belt, suddenly looked pretty good, when compared to a group of amateur printers who had plenty of ideas but no skill. Page had been reading and self-studying about typography all along honing her skills as a typographic artist and designer.

Page was appointed as University of Rhode Island’s Printer in Residence in 2002.