Biography

Stefanie Dykes is a co-founder of Saltgrass Printmakers. Established in 2003, Saltgrass Printmakers is a non-profit printmaking studio and gallery located in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Stefanie has taught printmaking classes at the University of Utah, Westminster College, Snow College and Saltgrass Printmakers. She received her MFA from the University of Utah in 2010. Dykes has exhibited both within the United States and internationally. She is currently on the organizing committee for the Rocky Mountain Print Alliance Symposium. In 2013, Stefanie was awarded two Artist In Residence opportunities: Surel’s Place, Idaho and Anderson Ranch Art Center, Colorado.

Exhibition

‘A Token Gesture’
Gestures often done for the sake of appearance are called token gestures. Members of this portfolio were asked to design a new token based on a contemporary issue (financial, environmental, socio or political, etc.) and designate what their token’s redeemable value would be.

More than an individual occurrence of a symbol, tokens are cultural objects that carry with them a history of colonialism, exploitation and modern consumerism.  Specific trade tokens were often designed and given to placate employees, persuade voting populace or entice customers to purchase merchandise. As an exchange for goods and services, trade tokens (wooden nickels, hard-times tokens, pogs) were coin-like objects used instead of currency. While many were used in trade, they were also produced for advertising and political purposes. Tokens had a limited use and were often issued by a private company, group, association or individual.  The tokens were often used during a time of political and financial crisis. The token was in effect a pledge redeemable in goods.

‘A Token Gesture’ portfolio was open and free for all to participate in building on an established network of artists and creating a new node of intersection for these printmakers. The portfolio includes laser cut and hand crafted relief prints.  Each artist was asked to create two relief prints (size:  24” or 18” diameter) printed on a 26” x 26” paper size. In trade, I printed a “Pocket Collector’s Edition” each participant.