Interview: Screen Printer Alana Bailey
By Jen Hazen in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 12, 2009 9:20PM
Photo courtesy of Alana Bailey
Bailey is just one of Chicago’s new wave of screen printers (like Angee Lennard, Ryan Duggan, and the crew of No Coast Collective to name a few) who maneuver outside, and around, Chicago’s mainstream screen printing scene. And she shows no sign of slowing down when it comes to creating art, which makes us pretty happy. We talked with Bailey about her labor-intensive poster making process, the economy’s affect on artists, and wearing one pair of jeans every day until they fall apart.
Oh, and you can check out Alana Bailey’s screen prints up-close at Heaven Gallery‘s “Boombox” exhibit curated by Anchor Graphics / Columbia College, March 13 through March 27, with a reception for Columbia College’s Southern Graphics Council Conference on March 27, 9 p.m. - 11 p.m.
Chicagoist: Did you go to college for printmaking or did you teach yourself?
Alana Bailey: I went to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, which doesn't have majors. I spent most of my time in the print department, definitely focused on screen printing. I got my technical chops there. I spent too much time thinking about my projects, though…
C: How so?
AB: My teacher in Advanced Screen was constantly telling me I had to just make something every day, and that "sometimes you just have to make shit." I didn't get it right away—the idea of facing a critique armed with shit wasn't too thrilling to me. Poster making was more or less frowned upon in the department, but I found myself only really understanding what he meant through my poster making practice.
C: How did you get your start creating posters for Chicago bars and clubs?
AB: In 2006, I started doing the monthly calendars for the Hideout, but I had made a few posters here and there before then. I was at the end of my internship at The Bird Machine, and also finishing up school. I had been introduced to some new materials I found really exciting at TBM, and knew the monthly calendars would keep me printing once school and the internship were over.
C: Your portraits on the Hideout calendars—who are these people?
AB: In October 2007, I started a series of calendars featuring portraits of the women who work at the Hideout. This January I started to do guys' portraits.
C: Nice. You consistently use rubylith when designing posters, which really differentiates your work from other Chicago poster makers. Any particular reason you like it so much?
AB: Well, I’ve spent a lot of time in my other art-making practices cutting tedious little shapes out with an exact-o knife, so it just seemed natural. And I've never felt terribly comfortable designing posters on a computer. I really love the clean lines of the rubylith and find it to be the easiest way for me to make my drawing into a poster. I use it all the time to size things out and for general composition construction.
C: Your color combinations are always amazing. Any particular sources of inspiration?
AB: To be perfectly honest, it usually depends heavily on what inks I have on hand at the time! Since I don't use a computer to do that part of the design, I assign colors to certain parts, so I’m usually just shooting from the hip.
C: What else have you been working on lately?
AB: I’ve been working on getting an internship in California at Raoul Textiles and I’m art directing a website for Maestro-Matic. Otherwise, I've been continuing my work with the Hideout and Mucca Pazza, doing a few wedding-related jobs, and getting ready for Boombox.
C: How do you think the economic meltdown in recent months is affecting artists?
AB: Well, everyone I know already knows how to live cheap and doesn't own any stock, so I think we’re generally better prepared than most for le crisis. But work's slowing down all around, so that sucks.
C: There’s a lot of dude-ness in the biz of making posters. Do you think that being a lady and having a feminine aesthetic creates more of a challenge in Chicago’s print scene?
AB: Postermaking is most definitely dude-centric. How I deal with it depends on the day. Sometimes I'll get all mad and feel like no one takes me seriously and wander around with the grumbles. And sometimes I feel like the dudes are some of the funniest, best, and most loveable people I've ever known.
Chicago's lady poster maker percentage is steadily rising, though, and I feel like as long as we all keep making stuff, we'll eventually level the field. As for art, I feel like poster aesthetics have hit a point in the flow chart where it starts looking like broccoli, if that makes any sense. There aren't any rules, and pretty much everything goes.
C: Tell us 4 things that we don’t know about you:
AB: I've probably spent over half my life in a car. I take most things too seriously. I have a typewriter collection. And I always have one pair of jeans that I wear basically every day until they fall apart, then I get new ones that are exactly the same, only new, and I do it again.
“Boombox” at Heaven Gallery, 1550 N. Milwaukee Ave. 2nd floor, Opens Friday March 13 and runs until Friday March 27, with a closing reception from 9 p.m. - 11 p.m. on the 27th. General gallery hours: by appointment. Free.