Denise Kraemer

"I enjoy being asked why I continue to work in such an old medium as printmaking. It gives me the opportunity to remind people how important it is to preserve the past and at the same time forge into the future. Part of the enchantment of printmaking has to do with the notion of magic. This phenomenon encompasses curiosity, wonder, and discovery with the fact that you do not know exactly what you will end up with until you pull the paper away from the matrix. Of all the different artistic mediums I have explored, printmaking is the most versatile and personally rewarding, teaching me how to resolve the work, but more importantly, how to resolve life. It brings together both the left (technical) and right (creative) sides of the brain perfectly. It also incorporates my passion of interesting paper, found objects, and old textiles.  ...  

"Most of the work begins with old photographs that could be found in any family photo album. Working with manipulated photos comes from my desire to express the importance that women have on their children and how they continue to affect their descendants for many generations. In many of my prints you will find a number of images and upon closer observation there can be detected shadows of images representing past and future generations. As time passes, names, places, and dates are forgotten, but the impact that they had on each of us continues through time, linking us together like an invisible thread."While most of my work has always been concerned with the influence that each generation has had on the previous generation, this body of work also includes the effects of cultural changes, as well as the influence of the family. ... There is a sense of nostalgia as if the figure isn't really in that environment, but is remembering, imagining, or inventing their reality."

Exhibition overview from Museum website