Residency Artist - Visual Arts

Eliana Calle-Saari

4029 Blendon Way Dr.
Gahanna, OH  43230
Phone: (614) 795-3219
Email: callesaari@aol.com
Website: www.elianacallesaari.com

My work combines the traditional printmaking method of relief printmaking with the use of the computer as a tool to develop my ideas. I use Photoshop and photography, along with traditional methods such as drawing and painting in a sketchbook to create a base for my prints. My preferred technique is reductive woodblock, and with only one block of wood, I create multi-color images. Since my work is about my memories, my heritage, and how it interacts with the present, one idea for residency participants would be to explore memories. I would ask them to use two or three colors to represent those memories on paper -- it could be quite abstract -- but should evoke those memories. Then, we would work on the best form of transferring an idea to a woodblock, or a linoleum piece. This method would be used for the older participants. For younger participants, the process would be very similar. They would think about their favorite memory, their favorite color, and they would put it down on paper using colors, shapes, and lines. They would then transfer it to a soft material, and using pencils, would carve the drawing so it can be printed.

I am currently working on a series of prints based on my daughter's favorite activity: dance. I have spent a year sketching the BalletMet company members during rehearsal. What started as a way to pass some time has grown into a series of woodcuts and intaglio prints representing the energy, movement, and interaction that occurred during those long rehearsal hours.

I have been teaching and making art professionally for the past 10 years. I received a B.A. in art & Spanish from Otterbein College and an M.F.A in printmaking from The Ohio State University.