UP Denizens and Debris, an exhibit by artist Micheal Letts is on display in the DEO gallery through the months of February and March. The opening reception will occur Thursday, February 8th from 6-8pm. An artist talk for this gallery will occur at 7pm.

A series of monotype prints, these works explore life in the U.P. of Michigan and the spaces between tradition and life lived online, behind the glass screen.

“The UP was always a wilder place, apart from the rest of the world. My work embraces this transitory life, a kind of rebel yell against the onslaught of technology and a sorting of the history and traditions of art and a particular lived experience. These works are created using a unique monotype printmaking process that I developed during the years of the COVID pandemic.”

Letts works with a unique printing process. The work begins with a full-scale charcoal drawing on paper, which is placed under glass to act as a guide for the painting. The painting process on these glass plates is reversed as the first painted marks are what would commonly be the final touches of traditional painting. The work continues through many layers.

The finished works are transferred from the glass onto the canvas support. As is common in many forms of printmaking, the final image is reversed. The results are not seen until the work is transferred from the glass to the canvas, so the process is an informed mystery; the final image is a discovered surprise. The original drawings remain untouched to be reused or cut up and collaged to begin new pieces. Letts describes this process as, “Holding a sense of adventure and discovery, always owning an element of exploration and risk.”