SAFETY BOMBS (All Saint Sebastian Needed Was A Little Luck)
As an American, I only know war from afar. I live in Dubai now, as safe place historically removed from acts of war. That was until this week, when I experienced Iranian missiles overhead, accompanied by the sights and sounds of their interceptions. I worry about my two year old son – how close he is to an American war, to a missile strike while he sleeps peacefully. We all need a little luck right now.
Burj Khalifa Christmas Tree. Linocut on folded Bristol Board. 2025
This Saturday, I will have a gelliplate and collagraph printmaking workshop at Sharjah Art Foundation. We’ll start with a tour of Leda Catunda’s exhibition at the Sharjah Art Museum, and draw inspiration from her work to produce our own textured and colorful prints by inking and pressing everyday items. More information and sign-ups here.
I had another fun linocut workshop this week in Dubai. I have done these at homes for small groups, in offices for work socializing events, in galleries for interactive events, and as part of large art festivals. They’re a great creative outlet for anyone to try, with no experience necessary and unique results for every artist.
I currently have my work up in the university gallery, and I’m proud to see my linocut illustrations alongside such talented graphic artists from all over the world. We have been working to put this show together since some of us met in Portugal as part of a printmaking biennial back in 2023. We were even lucky enough to host one of the artists as she was able to come to Dubai from Poland for the opening and speak about her creative process.
The theme of our show was memory, and the written statement for my contributions were as follows:
If we’re not careful, we lose our memories as they disappear on the horizon. They skew and warp as we get further from childhood; further from the adventures that get shinier right before they vanish forever. With some effort, we can return to those days of imagination, or at least recapture the feeling of it. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and linoleum shavings; The feeling of the tide pulling you in; The sound of the dodo calling. Climb out of the bottle and look inside.
It was a fun linocut workshop yesterday in Abu Dhabi, talking print with the fine folks at RAK Art and Khawla Art & Culture.
How do you make art to commemorate a historic work that has disappeared?
In 1876, Edward Mitchell Bannister became the first known Black artist to win a national award, for his landscape painting “Under the Oaks.” It was purchased and has since gone missing, with no photographic evidence of it. It is possibly his greatest work, and has now become his greatest mystery.
My carved linocut print depicts the back of an old framed canvas, signed “E.M. Bannister 76.” It will be exhibited at Rhode Island College’s Bannister Gallery this fall.
“Under The Oaks.” Linocut. 2025. 12x16”
I’ll be giving a linocut workshop at Khawla Arts in Abu Dhabi on July 5th at 10am. Carve and print your own design within two hours! No experience necessary.
