Devra Fox
Printmaking Alumni Interview - Neiman Center 25th Anniversary Catalogue
LNCPS: Printmaking at the Neiman Center is community-driven. What was your experience of community at the Neiman Center and did it have an impact on your experience as a student in the MFA program at Columbia?
Devra Fox: My first day at the Neiman Center I believe I swept the gallery and began trimming some prints, but what really stands out is the first lunch. Marie sent myself and a second year to Westside Market to pick up some lunch/snack items for everyone. It was a welcome to the new first years and the first of numerous Neiman lunches. We all gathered around the table in the shop, got acquainted and had some lunch. There was no communal lunch everyday but the sentiment was set. Over my time at Columbia I grew close to the whole Neiman community, through lunches, working on projects, the occasional field trip and the all important Neiman Night Outs (who doesn't love hearing Tomas belt Adele at any given opportunity??). I feel really lucky to have been a part of the Neiman team in the larger School of the Arts community.
LNCPS: Do you have a favorite project that you worked on as a Fellow? What made it memorable?
Devra Fox: I had the opportunity to contribute to so many incredible projects, it's hard to choose one in particular. That being said the project we did with Michael Joo is coming to mind. They were large silvered screen prints and the process of making them was wild. I came in to help on the project for a few days out in Red Hook at Joo's studio. Nathan had constructed individual spray booths for each print, which were lined with heavy duty trash bags and trays filled with kitty litter on the bottom to collect the toxic drippings of all the chemicals that were being sprayed. It was quite a production to say the least and amazing to see how challenges of material were overcome.
LNCPS: Did working at the Neiman Center influence your artistic practice?
Devra Fox: Yes! Being around so many incredible artists, not only the ones that had projects at the Neiman center, was hugely influential. Having time to talk to artists, classmates and everyone in the shop offered such an education into art making practices and the art world at large.
LNCPS: What was your experience working collaboratively with a master printer, invited artists and your peers to edition artists’ projects?
Devra Fox: Part of why I love printmaking is the collaborative environment that a printshop creates. The leaders at the Neiman center, Tomas, Marie and Nathan, created a space where artist, master printer and fellows worked together harmoniously. I learned a lot about a wide variety of printmaking and how to work as a printing team. Although the repetitive nature of editioning can be grueling, I greatly enjoyed working on projects with the other fellows under the guidance of the master printers.
LNCPS: Was there something that you learned at the Neiman Center that has stayed with you even after graduation?
Devra Fox: Witnessing the process of a project, from idea to execution, at the Neiman Center there is a sense of ingenuity, this has stuck with me. Even if an idea is somewhat infeasible there is a way forward to make it happen. I saw this happen a number of times at the Neiman Center, people coming together to solve a problem and create something beautiful.
