The Print Center Semifinalist - Kit MacNeil

MacNeil (born 1989, Asheville, NC; lives Buffalo, NY) holds a BA in Studio Art from the College of Charleston and an MFA in Studio Art from SUNY Buffalo. Their work has been exhibited at Big Medium, Austin, TX; CEPA Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Print Matters Houston; and International Print Center New York; as well as Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. They have been an artist in residence at the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson and are scheduled to attend the Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA in 2020. MacNeil teaches printmaking and drawing courses at SUNY Buffalo and is currently Studio Manager and Curator at the Western New York Book Arts Center.

Untitled (the Void) consists of a series of prints all derived from a single copper etching plate. The plate was 18″ x 24″ and received numerous layers of aquatint, along with numerous reductive processes. The result was over 100 proofs that evolved into the two panels above, along with an abstract animation documenting the entire process.

MacNeil’s work explores the realities of life with a mental illness. Untitled (the Void) takes its title from a quotation by the Italian writer Italo Calvino: “To fall in the void as I fell: none of you knows what that means.” MacNeil manifests this void through constructing a grid-like structure of twenty five 18” x 24” etchings pulled from a single copper plate. Each represents a year in their life at the time of production. By altering the plate between pulls, MacNeil creates a work in which the process and final product are intertwined.

To read more about the award please visit the Print Center's webpage, were you will also find Kit's "Vicious Cycle" a performance-based video that explores the boundaries of personal identity as one marked by traumatic experiences.