Artist's Resume
Education:
MFA, Printmaking, Marywood University, 2009
BA, Art Education, Mansfield University, 2004
Professional Experience:
Adjunct Professorship, 2009 – Present
Marywood University
2300 Adams Avenue, Scranton, Pennsylvania, 18509
570.348.6211
Courses: Basic Drawing, Drawing I, Two-Dimensional Design and Color, Art History II, Sound and Symbol in the Arts
Erin L. McMahon Print Studio, 2007 - Present
166 Water Street, Suite 2A, Binghamton, New York, 13901
607.760.4868
Director/Instructor
Creation and editioning of original prints, community teaching
Courses: Drawing, Basic Printmaking
Art Teacher, 2003 – 2007
Chenango Forks Central Schools
Middle and High School Levels
Select Exhibitions
(* Solo)
2013
Unbounded: 67 Prints by 53 Artists. Hollar Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic.
The Drive Home…Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, New York, New York, and Graphic Arts Workshop, San Francisco, California.
2012
Society of American Graphic Artists 79th Members' Exhibition. The Old Print Shop, New York, New York.
2011
Washington Printmakers14th Annual National Small Works. The Washington Printmakers Gallery, Silver Spring, Maryland. Juried by Robert K. Newman, owner of the Old Print Shop, New York, New York.
New York Society of Etchers 1st National Exhibition of Intaglio Prints. The National Arts Club, New York, New York. Juried by Roberta Waddell, Curator Emeritus of the New York Public Library.
Boston Printmakers 2011 North American Print Biennial. The Danforth Museum, Framingham, Massachusetts. Juried by Jim Dine.
2010
New York Society of Etchers 10th Anniversary Exhibition. The National Arts Club, New York, New York. Juried by Bill Maxwell, Director of Maxwell Fine Arts, Inc.
Printworks ’10. Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, New York. Juried by Asher Miller, Department of 19th Century, Modern and Contemporary Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York.
New Prints/Spring 2010. International Print Center New York, New York, New York. Juried by Philip Pearlstein.
Art on Paper. Circle Gallery. Annapolis, Maryland. Curated by Joann Moser, curator of Graphic Arts at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
*Erin L. McMahon: The Parlor City in Print. Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts. Binghamton, New York.
Imprint: Current Trends in Printmaking Today. Target Gallery. Alexandria, Virginia. Curated by Jane Haslem, owner of Jane Haslem Gallery, Washington, D.C.
2009
New York Society of Etchers Etching and Monotype Exhibition, 2009. National Arts Club. New York, New York. Curated by Samantha Rippner, Associate Curator, Department of Drawing and Prints, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
2008
Mini Print International. Binghamton University. Binghamton, New York. (Traveling)
Master’s Exhibit. Surachi Gallery, Marywood Univeristy. Scranton, Pennsylvania.
*Erin L. McMahon. Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts. Binghamton, New York.
Galleries
Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts, Binghamton, New York
Wenninger Gallery, Rockport, Massachusetts
Associations
Society of American Graphic Artists
New York Society of Etchers
Manhattan Graphics Center
Artist's Statement
Right out of college I thought I knew what printmaking was all about. I had my style, my medium, and more ideas than I could accomplish in a lifetime of work. But, as any good artist, the more I experience of the world, and the more I learn about printmaking, the more my ideas evolve and change.
I have always been attracted to drypoint as a printmaking medium. I enjoy the directness of the medium and the way it closely resembles drawing. I was taken with the history of the medium, as well as the other intaglio processes, and my focus was on technically mastering drypoint, which I certainly feel I excel in.
Then one day, as I was discussing the future of printmaking with another professor, he stated that he thought that printmaking was a dying art, too entrenched in tradition, and therefore snuffing itself out. I had no immediate response to that, except that I knew that it was wrong. I also saw my own works from another perspective, as beautiful and masterful as they were, they were not contemporary. This revelation inspired me to truly think about contemporary printmaking, what it was, where it was going, and how I was going to be a part of that.
Printmaking has always historically crossed boundaries, especially those between high and low art. It has always been about taking the idea of "preciousness" out of art. Prints were meant to be exchanged, traded, and given away, and because of this very nature of them, they were able to communicate new ideas fluidly, and rapidly. They are accessible, and they are diverse in methods and materials. It is this fluidity that permeated my consciousness and helped my ideas evolve.
I feel that artists of today, including myself, do not limit themselves to distinct and separate media fields. All art has been about pushing boundaries, and now, more than ever, printmaking encompasses that idea. We should not shun the technology that is around us, we should find a way to innovatively integrate it into what we can do. I often incorporated these ideas into the work that I did not see fit to show others, work that is now fueling my newest ideas.
My new works are an amalgamation of techniques. I see the future of printmaking as one of mixing, layering, and reinventing using the new techniques that arise alongside the more traditional methods. I am also preoccupied with the idea of the multiple, and how integral that is to the field of printmaking.
My muse continues to be the same urban landscapes of my early work, especially the malodorous, begrimed, and wonderful tapestry that is New York City. To me, "place" is very much a living thing, a character that breathes through its very human construction. The city is a place which gives me permission to exaggerate, invent, and obsess as I draw the reality that I want to see around me.