Biography

Nathan Meltz uses printmaking, collage, and animation to document the infiltration of technology into every facet of life, from family and food to politics and war. His exhibit venues include the International Print Center New York, the Miami Fountain Art Fair, the IN Graafika Festival, Pärnu, Estonia, and the Uranium Film Festival at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. His work has been featured in the publications Paper Politics, Sociological Images, Printeresting and the Mid America Print Council Journal. Meltz is a full time lecturer at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. 

Illustrated Talk

Adventures in 4-D: Printmaking and Non-Static Forms 
Printmakers are increasingly faced with a challenging conundrum: how can they balance the sophistication of image-making, process, and tools of expression with the urge to innovate, contemporize, and come to terms with an increasing digital and ephemeral world? 

In this talk I will show how my work combines elements of printmaking with time-based media, particularly animation, sound, and video. I will show the relationship between these different elements, and how the synthesis of these various forms make for a more meaningful and engaging work of art.

A large part of my digital work involves animation. For printmakers, animation can balance an interest in creating digital, ephemeral, and/or time-based work with the urge to engage in a process intensive medium.  Like the process of creating an edition, animation requires extensive planning, preparatory sketches (in the form of storyboards), and studies. Both processes entail the creation of image multiples, and have a focus on repetition of process.

The type of imagery created by many printmakers lends itself to translation into an animated context.  The bold, solid forms of relief and screen printing retain their graphic weight in both the paper and video environment.  The fluid lines of an etching can take on sinewy and modulated qualities when animated.

Video allows a printmaker equilibrium between image making and the desire to create a narrative. I will show video that derives from traditional printmaking techniques, and from there expand into the realm of moving image.

I will show through my work how elements of audio and music production related to the production methods of printmaking.  Rhythm, repetition, and occasional tedium can be evident across both the printmaking and audio platforms.