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INTRODUCTION

Osée + Sonnenzimmer were selected by the Chicago Printers Guild to produce a printed edition as one of several pairings aiming to facilitate collaboration between CPG members and non-guild artists. These ambitious collaborations are meant to optimize the plethora of resources that the guild has in order to collectively establish a series of publishing projects which meld ideas and technical perspectives while expanding the voices of graphic artwork in Chicago. In addition to facilitating these unique graphic works, this project is part of a fundraising effort pairing the CPG with the South Side Community Art Center. Proceeds from the sales of this and other prints will go towards lighting and ceiling improvements at SSCAC's Dr. Margaret Burroughs Gallery. This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.

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T E A M

Osée Obaonrin

Osée Obaonrin is an interdisciplinary artist and poet whose work focuses on documentation: of self, mourning & grief as a means of reflection and process. She attempts to reconcile with the losses that have opened her to grief, the pain that has come along with it and perhaps find hope as a means of resistance.

oseeobaonrin.com
#owe.sea

Sonnenzimmer

Sonnenzimmer is a collective, an experimental graphic studio (founded by artists Nick Butcher and Nadine Nakanishi in 2006), a belief that that when we are all ready to look at our own graphic mark, own up to how it looks, learn to embrace it, feel compelled to live with it, the world will start to look like home for everybody. We explore the historic role of the graphic mark and the contemporary graphic impulse through publishing, exhibitions, design, and performance.

sonnenzimmer.com
#sonnenzimmer

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P R O C E S S

P R O J E C T S T A T E M E N T

Osée’s Project Statement

Although 2020 has come with isolation and social distancing, the Chicago Printers Guild and the South Side Community Art Center’s Raise it Up! campaign has brought me the joy of reconnection. Nadine Nakanishi and Nick Butcher, Chicago based artists and forces behind the experimental graphic studio Sonnenzimmer, were the more-than-generous instructors who first taught me the art of screen printing and built the foundation for my love of printmaking. It has been a blessing and adventure to trust them to be my hands without a full vision of what this print would become. I played with concepts of cracked earth, separation, closeness and distance, and completeness without wholeness in a way that mirrored the creation of this print, our current global state and my personal struggles with distance and relationships lately. There was a lot of joy in this creation and as a Bronzeville resident, to see that the fruits of our collaboration go towards such a monumental Southside icon as the South Side Community Art Center only brought another layer of richness to the process.

Sonnenzimmer’s Project Statement

Creating a printed edition remotely is a challenge, but Osée took it in stride. As a very hands on and intuitive maker, this process might have pushed Osée into some unknown framework, but the resulting print pushes beyond any uncertainty with it’ s dynamic, nuanced, and inquisitive nature. Osée kicked off the process with several methodical experiments, testing out various ink additives, color combinations, and physical materials such as lavender and hand-painted marks. However, the finished print ultimately relies on a compositional and observational clarity that naturally floats between the physical and cerebral. Perhaps the print is about watching a process unfold in front of your eyes, while being the process itself.