The University of Central Florida’s fine art, limited edition press Flying Horse Editions is proud to announce the completion of a portfolio of images in collaboration with Brooklyn-based Forth Estate Editions and Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop.
Printmaker Glen Baldridge came to UCF’s Center for Emerging Media to produce a groundbreaking suite of images. Baldridge’s process is an innovative departure from traditional wood block printing techniques. For these prints, he enlisted the expertise of Brooklyn Research to laser- and CNC-cut maplewood blocks. This techique allowed the artist to use photographic half-tone imagery in a traditional woodblock print.
The artist explains that making prints with this technique requires a special printing press that can deliver a huge amount of vertical pressure rather than a typical press where the bed is pulled under a roller. These considerations led the New York-based artist to travel to Flying Horse Editions at UCF. Using Flying Horse’s massive hydraulic press, capable of delivering several tons of pressure per square inch, Baldridge was able to make printmaking history.
The print blocks are comprised of a tightly fit puzzle of CNC-cut blocks that form the appearance of floorboards in the composition. In each print depicts a section of flooring has been removed to reveal a clandestine stash of contraband underneath. In one print titled “Harbinger,” a switchblade hovers in the darkened void of its hiding place. In the other, titled “The Collection,” a stash of VHS videotapes rests beneath the floor with nondescript labels, leaving it to us to imagine their illicit content.
The prints are currently available through Flying Horse Editions.