NCSSM Collage (proof)

Joe Liles, standing next to the cupola on top of Watts Hall.

NCSSM Collage (proof)

1998

In 1998, I was commissioned by the Development Office of NCSSM to produce a screenprint that could be given to speakers at graduation, donors, members of the board of trustees, and more. I came up with the idea of doing a pen-and-ink drawing of a collage of different scenes around campus. This was a very complex drawing with lots of detail and I used a screenprinting process whereby I made my drawing on tracing paper that would let light through the paper but not through the black ink of the drawing. This crude form of a positive transparency was then placed on top of stencil material that was sensitive to light. This was placed in a vacuum table that pressed everything together, and all this was exposed to a bright light. The stencil material was then developed in a chemical bath and washed with warm water. The water washed out everything that was blocked from the light by the black ink, but the surrounding stencil that was exposed to the light remained. A plastic backing held this gelatinous stencil together while it was adhered to a polyester screen. When dry, the plastic was peeled off, leaving the stencil on the screen. A rubber squeegee was then used to press the ink through the screen, through the open areas of the stencil, and onto the paper. Take a walk around campus to see the symbolic places in this print.