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Gretchen Schermerhorn

Paper / Book / Illustration, Printmaking, Sculpture / Installation, Visual / Media

My work is an investigation into our relationship with the natural environment, specifically our efforts to understand it, and possibly control it. I observe and research plant and animal evolution, survival mechanisms and habits, and how advancements in medicine both assist, as well as interfere with, these forces.

Printmaking, mold-making, and duplicative methods are appealing to me because I can blend modern and traditional processes. I believe going back and forth like this further explains how our interactions with the natural world are filtered through technological advancements.

About the Artist

Gretchen Schermerhorn is currently the Artistic Director at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, an art center dedicated to the contemporary creation of hand printmaking, papermaking, and the art of the book, in Hyattsville, Maryland. She received her MFA in Printmaking from Arizona State University, and since then, has completed artist residencies at The Women's Studio Workshop in New York, Columbia College Center for Book and Paper in Chicago, Seacourt Print Workshop in Northern Ireland, California State University and the Robert Rauschenberg Residency in Florida. Her prints, installations, and works on paper works have been exhibited around the country and internationally, and her work is part of the Montgomery County Public Art Trust, Anne Arundel Community College's print collection, and the Janet Turner Print Collection. She has received individual artist awards from both the Maryland State Arts Council and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. She has taught workshops at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts, Snow Farm-New England Craft, Women's Studio Workshop, and the University of North Texas and is currently is part of the adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University, where she teaches Printmaking and Book Arts. 

Gretchen Schermerhorn website Artist Website

Featured Work

Photos

Runners is a piece that is a part of the Encyclopedia Series, which is a body of work is inspired by images and text found in a set of nearly 80-year-old encyclopedias. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, many of the 'facts' in these books have now been refuted. This body of work addresses the pessimistic meta induction theory, which argues that if past scientific theories that were successful have been found to be false, we have no reason to believe that our current successful theories are approximately true. I enjoy using the same matrix but experimenting with printing the layers in a different order and in different colors and levels of transparency to achieve a variation on a theme. Most of this work forces multiple images together into the same composition in an effort to illustrate how our relationship with the natural world is both competitive and destructive.
Divers is a piece of work that is a part of the Encyclopedia Series, which is a body of work is inspired by images and text found in a set of nearly 80-year-old encyclopedias. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, many of the 'facts' in these books have now been refuted. This body of work addresses the pessimistic meta induction theory, which argues that if past scientific theories that were successful have been found to be false, we have no reason to believe that our current successful theories are approximately true. I enjoy using the same matrix but experimenting with printing the layers in a different order and in different colors and levels of transparency to achieve a variation on a theme. Most of this work forces multiple images together into the same composition in an effort to illustrate how our relationship with the natural world is both competitive and destructive.
So Far So Good is a work that is part of the Encyclopedia Series, which is a body of work is inspired by images and text found in a set of nearly 80-year-old encyclopedias. Interestingly, but not surprising, many of the 'facts' in these books have now been refuted. This body of work addresses the pessimistic meta induction theory, which argues that if past scientific theories that were successful have been found to be false, we have no reason to believe that our current successful theories are approximately true. I enjoy using the same matrix but experimenting with printing the layers in a different order and in different colors and levels of transparency to achieve a variation on a theme. Most of this work forces multiple images together into the same composition in an effort to illustrate how our relationship with the natural world is both competitive and destructive.
This print depicts our antagonistic relationship with the natural world by using images of wrestlers juxtaposed with weather patterns caused by climate change. My work is an investigation into our relationship with the natural environment, specifically our efforts to understand it, and possibly control it. I observe and research plant and animal evolution, survival mechanisms and habits, and how advancements in medicine both assist and interfere with these forces.
This print depicts our antagonistic relationship with the natural world by using images of wrestlers juxtaposed with weather patterns caused by climate change. My work is an investigation into our relationship with the natural environment, specifically our efforts to understand it, and possibly control it. I observe and research plant and animal evolution, survival mechanisms and habits, and how advancements in medicine both assist and interfere with these forces.
Hanging Masks to Dry is part of a larger Series of work called the Encyclopedia Series, which is a body of work inspired by images and text found in a set of nearly 80-year-old encyclopedias. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, many of the 'facts' in these books have now been refuted. This body of work addresses the pessimistic meta induction theory, which argues that if past scientific theories that were successful have been found to be false, we have no reason to believe that our current successful theories are approximately true. I enjoy using the same matrix but experimenting with printing the layers in a different order and in different colors and levels of transparency to achieve a variation on a theme. Most of this work forces multiple images together into the same composition in an effort to illustrate how our relationship with the natural world is both competitive and destructive.