Silent Poetry: Woodcut Prints of the California Landscape by Tom Killion
Aug. 17, 2012 to Oct. 9, 2012
The prints in Silent Poetry capture the quiet ruggedness of the 21st century California landscape, fusing 19th century Japanese ukiyo-ë tradition with 20th century Western wood-engraving and book illustration aesthetics. Killion never works from photographs, preferring instead to work from on-site drawings which he turns into his multi-layered prints through a series of proofs and tests. In 2000 and 2009 Killion published two books, The High Sierras of California and Tamalpais Walking, in collaboration with Pulitzer-prize winning poet Gary Snyder.
About the artists
Born and raised in Mill Valley, Killion has a deep appreciation of California scenery from Big Sur to the High Sierras, finding the ideal locations for his on-site sketches to create captivating panoramas. His prints capture the quiet ruggedness of the 21st century California landscape, fusing 19th century Japanese ukiyo-ë tradition with 20th century western wood-engraving and book illustration aesthetics. Dedicated to hand-drawn and hand-carved techniques, his influences include the Japanese masters Hokusai and Hiroshige as well as European and American wood-engravers such as Eric Gill and Rockwell Kent. Since his beginning in 1975, he has created over 400 relief prints, many incorporating increasingly sophisticated multi-block color techniques using as many as a dozen colors. In 2000 and 2009 Killion published two books, The High Sierras of California and Tamalpais Walking, in collaboration with Pulitzer-prize winning poet Gary Snyder. Like Snyder’s poetry, Killion’s artistic style is truly Pacific Rim in its merging of eastern and western techniques, transforming familiar landmarks such as the Golden Gate into dreamscapes, or as described in Japanese, “floating worlds.”
Killion studied history at UC Santa Cruz and received a Ph.D. in African History from Stanford. He has worked as an administrator in a medical relief program in Sudan and taught at Bowdoin College and San Francisco State University. He has shown work since the mid 1970s and has exhibited around the world, from the British Museum in London and La Galerie Blanche in Carnac, France to the Davis Art Center and the Ansel Adams Gallery in California.
Events
- Thurs., Sept. 6
5-6 p.m., Opening Reception, Thacher Gallery
6-7 p.m., Artist Lecture: “Topofilia: The California Landscape in Japanese-style Woodcut Prints,” McLaren 250 - Tues., Oct. 2
10 a.m.-noon, Printmaking Demo with USF Printmaking Students, Thacher Gallery / Donohue Rare Book Room