Shop Show & Tell with SAMMI

Welcome to the fourth installment of ‘Shop Show & Tell’; a blog series dedicated to sharing our favorite stories, projects, and even objects from the studio (Check out our last post). This month, we’re checking in with Sammi McLean.

Sammi joined the studio in 2017 with a passion for teaching monoprinting and intaglio techniques. After graduating with her MFA from Florida Atlantic University, she learned letterpress and book arts through our summer internship program before joining the team as our Education and Gallery Manager. After nearly five years, Sammi is taking a step back from her daily role, but staying on as the studio’s lead Print Club instructor in Miami.

Sammi McLean is an artist and printmaker based in Boynton Beach, FL. She investigates sculpture, photography, and collage through a printmaker’s lens. Embracing chance, her imagery is often fragmented, layered, and collaged to create misrepresentations of information that oscillate between memories and documented experiences.

Check out a few of Sammi’s works below and visit
https://www.sammi-mclean.com/ for more info.

Which project have you learned the most from?

I tried, but I really can't choose just one. I learned so much from collaborating with the Society of the Four Arts on their exhibition, Rembrandt: The Sign and The Light and coordinating the Extra Pulp Exchange Portfolio.

Rembrandt: The Sign and The Light was a dream project for me as an intaglio printmaker. It was the most ambitious project I've been a part of to date and it allowed me to really lean into all things intaglio. At the end of the project, I got to edition this beautiful etching by Anton Merbaum for select museum-goers.

Extra Pulp allowed me to expand my understanding of papermaking. I thoroughly enjoyed all the research that went into curating the fantastic group of participating artists and the pure amazement that came from opening each package of submitted paper artworks. The cherry on top was getting to write an article highlighting the portfolio for the Winter 2021 issue of Hand Papermaking Magazine.

What’s your favorite press?

Terry! As an intaglio printer I never expected to fall for this press, but I love how easily it travels and that it frees me up to play with type and image cuts without too much fuss. It's been a great press to introduce into workshops and I love seeing students get to explore more experimental approaches to letterpress with it.

Terry

What’s your 'MVT' (Most Valuable Tool)?

I'm in love with this 18 inch tear bar. I can easily spend hours tearing down paper without complaint and this particular size is so cute and handy.

What's your favorite image cut from the letterpress collection?

Since day one, I've always had a special affection for this rose cut.

What's your favorite IS Projects program?

Print Club, hands down. Print Club has been my baby since it’s conception in 2018. It’s the perfect program for creatives who want to get involved in the studio but don’t know where to start or printmakers that are out of practice and/or searching for community. I’ve loved seeing lasting friendships formed between Print Club members over the last four years and I look forward to meeting a new batch of printers in the Miami area.