Sarah Sze
Artist Interview – Neiman Center 25th Anniversary Catalogue
LNCPS: Why did you accept the invitation to make prints at the Neiman Center for Print Studies and did you accomplish what you had hoped to do in terms of the finished project?
Sarah Sze: It's an amazing place where you can make prints with incredible artistic freedom, try off the wall things and work with terrific students and printers. I began working with the Neiman Center for Print Studies in the early 2000s. Over the years I completed over 10 projects with the Neiman Center, a collection of works that came from an inventive and collaborative environment.
LNCPS: How do the prints you made at the Neiman Center relate to your larger body of work?
Sarah Sze: Day, 2003 and Night, 2003 were the first print projects I completed at the Neiman Center. These prints address themes that are continually in my work. Each piece is ever evolving, building on past ideas, stacking and reimagining. Ripe Fruit Falling, 2012 was laser-cut silkscreen paper that took the formal elements of my architectural sculptures and placed them in a 2-dimensional frame. The prints for the work and the work has informed the prints-- printmaking is integral to the way I work in all mediums and the center has allowed for this creative growth.
LNCPS: When you came to the Neiman Center did you have a project in mind? How would you describe your collaboration with the master printer?
Sarah Sze: I wanted to create something that investigated movement, place and time. I wanted to break down the elements of my work, making the layers visible- while still being complex. Any print project is collaborative, it has the ability to bring people together and work off of each other's ideas - much like the print itself. The process of layering is reflective of the nature of the print and relationship of those working on it. Working with the master printer and students together was great.
LNCPS: The Neiman Center has a pedagogical mission statement and its workforce is comprised mainly of graduate and undergraduate students. Did this aspect interest you when you decided to work at the Neiman Center? What was your experience like working with the students?
Sarah Sze: The students are amazing and one of the best parts of working there. I began teaching Advanced Printmaking at Columbia University in 2002. Working with students has always been something I find extremely rewarding and exciting. There is so much for each of us to learn in this atmosphere, we are able to discover and problem solve together. This is a unique quality at the Neiman Center and what contributes to the brilliant projects that follow.
LNCPS: For many artists working outside their studios, which is often a solitary space, can have its own set of challenges. How did you find the collaborative nature of printmaking at the Neiman Center?
Sarah Sze: Great, ambitious, creative, collaborative environment - lives and full of brilliant and inquisitive minds. All dedicated to pushing the envelope on printmaking.
LNCPS: Did any of the print processes you tried at the Neiman have an effect on your working method back in the studio?
Sarah Sze: Everything did. For example, it was a completely new experience when I began working with the laser engraver in 2007. I used this to create Notepad, 2008. The discovery of how to manipulate paper in an inventive way led to certain types of experimentation in the studio. At the Neiman I was able to see first-hand the technology that could make this possible and I was able to take those discoveries inside my studio and beyond.
LNCPS: Please share any additional comments or anecdotes about your time at the Neiman Center.
Sarah Sze: I have been honored to work with Tomas Vu Daniels as the head of the Neiman and the lead in creating the wonderful community there, he is a great teacher and an inspiration to his students and fellow colleagues. The energy at the Neiman center is contagious, it has a special, creatively ambitious outlook and a vibrantly charged atmosphere like no other shop.
