Small Glimpses, an exhibition of woodcut prints by Jean Gumpper, opens October 19 at Groveland Gallery. Over the past 40 years, Gumpper’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She is widely recognized as one of the finest reduction woodcut artists in the United States. Her prints are part of numerous private and public collections across the U.S. and throughout Europe, Canada, and Asia. Gumpper is a Professor and Artist in Residence in the art department at Colorado College in Colorado Springs.

Gumpper’s prints are created through a reduction woodcut process, a labor-intensive endeavor that involves repeatedly carving, inking and printing plywood. The image emerges through layer upon layer of printed shapes and colors, sometimes requiring as many as 17 layers to complete.

Her compositions position the viewer on the edges of shorelines where water meets land, often peering through river grasses and tangled branches at ponds and flowing rivers. Gumpper’s textural, rhythmic marks hover between representation and abstraction, calling to mind the sound of wind through the reeds, buzzing insects and lapping waves. She writes of her work,

“Walking, hiking, and looking are the beginnings of my prints. This contemplative, restorative practice is an intimate and direct approach to visualizing nature.  I’m intrigued with the rhythms of mark making and the possibilities of color, texture, and movement. I hope to capture the sense of being in the landscape, hearing the sounds, feeling the air.  I work within a structure, the tradition of woodcut, which allows me to freely explore the layers and shifts within it.  These limitations of process offer unlimited possibility.”

The artist will attend the opening reception on Saturday, October 19 from 2-5pm. This exhibition runs concurrently with Somewhere Still by Tom Maakestad. Both shows continue through November 30, 2024.