Pauline Jakobsberg
There is a deep chord in all of us that seeks to discover and understand who we are through memories. My art has always helped me uncover faded artifacts, objects left over from a time that lives only in equally faded memory. The variety of print medium has served my purpose well, allowing me to produce sometimes playful, sometimes reflective prints. I often utilize collage and assemblage to evoke the layered process of memory in order to construct a visual reality. In my quest to learn more about the particulars of my family; that chord becomes the driving force behind much of my art. My bold, sometimes colorful garments bear the mark of one part of my heritage; the remaining part is quiet, reflective and intimate, creating a nostalgic mood, yet both telling a story. My printing plates are stationary with untold tales embedded in the folds, while the ensuing prints reveal their stories. From an early age I recall garment center samples from my salesman Dad, cluttering my small sleeping space. Memories of touching textures and shifting fabrics un-encumbered by form as well as patterns, whisper to me of a past obscured by time, but not forgotten. A carefully folded handkerchief sits in the pocket of a suit jacket and when removed reveals creased lines like a map of a route already walked. In this body of work, the images I choose to make bear the marks of my past.
The hand pulled print has been my medium of expression for the last 40 years after receiving a Bachelor’s Degree and graduate work in Fine Art. My works are in several private collections throughout Europe, Asia and the U.S., including two solo exhibitions at the Franz Kafka Gallery and Terezin Museum in Prague, Czech Republic. More recently I was invited to exhibit my body of “Birthrights Left Behind” at the Holocaust Museum in Houston, TX and several of my prints were part of an exhibition at St. John’s College in Annapolis. I am co-founder of the Washington Printmakers Gallery and maintain a printmaking studio at Artists and Makers in Rockville, MD.
Visit Pauline Jakobsberg’s Studio Store for artwork available for sale.
Images from Left to Right
After Katrina, Ed.1/1 - 2019 - Arches Paper - Collagraph - Etching - Handmade paper from blended Japanese papers - metal -Fr. 20x24x2
Emergence, Ed.1/1 - 2020 - Arches Paper - Collagraph w/charcoal image 26x18 - Fr. 34x25
Lizzie's Linens, Ed.1/1 - 2017 - Paper BFK Black - Collagraph - Etching image 21.5x15 - Fr. 27x19
More Than A Breeze, Ed. 1/1 - 2017 - Arches Paper - Free Form Collagraph - Etching on Plexiglass - Monotype - Fr. 28x29
Sheltered In Place, Ed. 1/1 - 2020 - Arches Paper - Collagraph, Fr. 38x25
The Way It Used To Look, Ed. 1/1 - 2020 - Arches Paper - Collagraph Pastel - Chine Colle Fabric - image 25.5x16 - Fr. 29x22