2006

Organized by Professor Kimiko Miyoshi, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, USA

Switched at Birth is a collaborative portfolio in which multiple artists contributed in the making of individual editions. The portfolio explores the ideas of evolution, synthesis, and the mutation of marks and images imprinted by each printmaking participant. Using the artist’s mark as metaphor for an imprinted gene, scar, or idea, each artist responded to the image made by the preceding artist(s) by adding their own marks onto the same print paper. Printmakers of diverse expertise and backgrounds participated in this research-intensive hybridization through various techniques. While some artists were influenced by the implications of current technological advancements, others were fascinated by the historical role of technology and printmaking. Throughout history, prints have disseminated social constructs and knowledge. This aspect of printmaking’s traditions reflects on our inclination toward experimentation comparable to that in the sciences.