Cheryl Humphreys | Close Crush Exhibition

For Tappan’s first duo exhibition, Close Crush, married artists Mike McMullen and Cheryl Humphreys, both printmakers, exhibited artworks made in their first year of parenthood. Several of the series are linked through material, concept, or practice. The artists share a studio, but after the birth of their son, they are rarely in the studio space together. Instead, each artist worked in the studio only when the other was away – but this separateness made each aware of the in-process artwork left behind by their partner. Many of the artworks in Close Crush were inspired by viewing traces of another artist's work left behind for the day. Tappan was excited to realize an exhibition that showed individual practices while recognizing how both artists inspired each other through concept and material. The exhibition title plays on both the artists’ relationship and the printmaking term “close crush”, which refers to the moment when an inked plate meets paper under pressure to create a print.

Humphreys’ series Romantic Gestures is a collection of monotypes on large and small scales printed in two to three colors. Her method involves arranging pieces of collected dryer lint, embracing the way it naturally falls apart, lands on the inked plate, and becomes reanimated through the press. In so doing, she steers her practice to a freer, chance operation: the compositions are confetti-like, with forms dancing down the page to evoke strewn flower petals.

studies for Romantic Gestures in Humphreys studio.

Closer inspection reveals the contour of stray hairs, dust, and fingernail clippings encapsulated in her arrangements, evincing the “dirty work” that is doing the family’s laundry. Through her continued impulse to examine and ritualize repetitive domestic work, she transforms an act of service into a suspended moment of beauty.

Humphreys building a Romantic Gestures monotype.

Romantic Gestures monotype & a Study for Romantic Gestures monotype

After seeing Humphreys Romantic Gestures works in their shared studio, McMullen was inspired to create his Flowers from Memory series as a response. Using oilstick to draw flowers directly on a plate and make a series of 6 monotypes.

Humphreys' Romantic Gestures series of monotypes

McMullen's Flowers from Memory series of monotypes, created after seeing Humprheys' work.

Humphreys' carefully considered colors, used in her Romantic Gestures series, also form the material basis of another of McMullen’s series. Inspired by Humphreys' use of color (as he normally works with black ink), McMullen used Humphreys leftover materials to make his Uh Oh series of monotypes (also a part of Close Crush).

Humphreys printing a Romantic Gestures monotype.

Inks and pigments in Humphreys/McMullen's studio

Finished monotype from the Romantic Gestures series, by Humphreys.

Monotype from McMullen's Uh Oh series, using Humphreys' leftover pigments.

In another series titled for the days of the week, Humphreys works with kitchen sponges, soaking them in vats of dye and pressing them down upon embossed paper to create an image that is scaled one-to-one with its source. Her clear-eyed examination of the porous monochrome elevates the material traces of homemaking, perhaps with a bit of humor. This series, along with Romantic Gestures comes from Humphreys exploration of how to find inspiration the new labor of caregiving discovered after the birth of a child. How to ritualize daily tasks and find beauty in the every day.

Humphreys series named after the days of the week, hand-printed using kitchen sponges

For her series Pillow Talk, and McMullen’s Sweet Dreams series, each artist printed on (new) bedsheets to capture the magic of intimate moments in bed after a day of work and caregiving. For Pillow Talk, the colors of the prints all fade into the color cyan – Cyan is the name of Humphreys’ and McMullen’s son.

McMullen's Sweet Dreams (top) and Humphreys Pillow Talk (below)

Humphreys & McMullen's Studio

Humphreys & McMullens' Studio.

Humphreys & McMullen holding works from the Close Crush exhibition

Click here to read about McMullen's artwork..