Printmaker Steve Prince: The Power of Expression
“My work is no doubt layered with story, with narrative. But that’s us”
Steve Prince brings amazing energy into his art practice. His talent and drive have made him one of the best printmakers in the art world. Steve is currently the director of engagement at the Muscarelle Museum of Art at William and Mary and has worked for years as an educator on multiple levels. Along the way, he has created a multitude of artworks in an assortment of mediums that embody his passion for Black people and his spiritual beliefs. Steve says it all starts with his love of drawing.
“Stylistically in terms of my approach, foundationally, what I'm doing with the work is. Drawing is my first love when it comes to art. I'm just trying to bring my drawings to life through the medium of printmaking. And I love the marks and the textures and the shapes that you're able to achieve.” (12:14)
“Leviticus: Burnt Offering” linocut by Steve Prince
Even though his athletic abilities got him into Xavier University, it was there that he discovered the magic of printmaking. Since then he’s developed a distinct style of printing. Three things that are characteristic of Steve’s relief prints are his use of dynamic Black figuration, the use of complex layered compositions, and the underlying spiritual core in all of his work.
Black Figures
Steve’s figures are gestural and emotive. They are characters in the layered stories and scenes he creates. He credits his wonderfully articulated figures to a couple of things. First, it is his love of drawing. He draws every day. All the time. Steve said, “I'm always drawing, I'm always doodling, I'm always drawing people.. I've done a ton of figure drawing and I've taught a ton of figure drawing to different people.” Second is his understanding of movement from his athletic career and a lifelong love of dance. Similar to one of his inspirations Ernie Barnes, playing sports gave him an understanding of the kinesthetics of the body.
“Nine Souls” linocut by Steve Prince
“I'm always reading bodies. When you playing sports you're reading so much stuff, so many subtleties and nuances are going when you're trying to read your opponent. You’re trying to pick up their tendencies. And that requires you to look very carefully at people. And by me being a visual artist and having the dexterity of the hand-eye coordination, I'm able to capture this stuff."
The characters in his prints are seemingly in motion. They are full of life. They are exaggerated in a way that communicates more than the action itself implies.
Layers
“My work is no doubt layered with story, with narrative. But that's us.”
The Old Testament series is a great example of the complex narrative that Steve uses in his work. These prints use bible stories as the basis for showing the relationship between a Black man and a Black woman. Prints like “Job: Take Me to the Water” are ripe with symbolism relating to life in New Orleans post hurricane Katrina. The man and woman are sitting on steps that represent the front porch of the house Steve grew up in. That house and much of his childhood life were washed away in Katrina. The marking on the wall behind them comes from the marking they used to search for survivors during the aftermath. The title relates to the biblical story of Job that loses so much from his livestock to his family but never loses his faith in God. The man is making a gesture and holding the string of the woman’s shirt. That simple gesture also has significance.
“Job: Take Me To the Water” linocut by Steve Prince
“You'll note that the guy has his fingers and is touching.. the woman's strap of clothing. That's like he's holding on the fragility of life, which is like that string, you know. And we keep on that every single day”
All these subtle messages add to the story being told. Steve likes to hide different types of symbols in his art. He will hide a Trayvon Martin hooded figure on the bus with Rosa Parks. The chess pieces in a barbershop scene will be sculpted after civil rights heroes. One thing he uses constantly is the AOG shield that he works into a lot of his pieces. The AOG stands for Armor of God or Army of God. This is a special part of Steve’s vocabulary, he calls Steve-ism. The AOG patch is a mark of people that have dared to be extraordinary in their lives and for him that strength comes from the spiritual path of the Black community.
“They had to have their minds protected, their hearts protected, their bodies protected for those key figures to do what they did. You know, the ordinary, extraordinary things that people did. And one of those people was Rosa Parks. You know, she was an ordinary, extraordinary person. She did something that was very ordinary. She refused to get up. That's ordinary. Ain't nothing extraordinary about that. But the extraordinary element is, is that she did it. And that there was a whole movement that came behind her.”
Spiritual Core
Steve spoked passionately about his beliefs and the role it plays in his life. He lives as a man of faith and sees his artwork as a tool to share the message of the gospel as he views it. The print called “The Living Epistle” is the embodiment of this idea. It shows a woman as he says in a double posture of praise. In her dress is the scripture from Corinthians II “I Ama a living epistle written not with a spirit of living God, not in terms of stone, but in the fleshy tables of the heart.” This is a perfect description of the way Steve lives his own life. Humbly he will be the first one to tell you that he is not holding himself over anyone.
“The Living epistle” linocut by Steve Prince
“I'm trying to do the best I can. I'm always I mean, I've been very fortunate to speak in a lot of different pulpits across this nation and speak on many, many given Sunday churches and so forth, and use my artwork as a tool in the vehicle to share the message and share the gospel. But I always say that I am the first recipient of any message I put out.” (55:42)
Community Focus
Another remarkable attribute of Steve’s practice is his ability to engage the community with collaborative projects. His most recent project called Links was done as part of a show at the Muscarelle Museum that marked the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the first slave ships arriving in America. Steve took 4 eight-foot wood panels and cut them into puzzle pieces. Volunteers of all ages used Dremel tools to carve the blocks. When they were pieced back together it created a 32-foot long woodblock that was printed with a steamroller. The Muscarelle Museum organized an entire event around the printing as part of the Association for the Study of Worldwide African Diaspora (ASWAD) Conference that was held at William and Mary. In the end, the project had over 500 people from 20 different countries and became a true celebration.
“I made it into a festival. I said this needs to be a big celebration and we need to call on everyone, all different ethnicities, and backgrounds to come out here.” (1:02:49)
“Psalms II: The Voodoo that You Do” linocut by Steve Prince
Ultimately Steve hopes his prints, drawing, and mixed media works can be of good to his community. He takes the time to consecrate the doorway of every classroom where he teaches so that all his students can feel that the art studio can be a sacred place for them. He continues to teach and focus on his mission to give a different representation of Black people.
“One thing that is always true of my work is that I show you the power. I show you the creativity, the imagination. I show you the strength of character. I show you to faith, I show you the full being of the African-American experience and how it has been able to navigate these really, really harsh. This really, really harsh terrain to be Black in America. And but at the same time, keep on living and keep on surviving. Keep on passing it on.” (20:31)
Follow Steve Prince: @onefishstudio
Listen to the full interview on Studio Noize Episode 93
Links
