BIG INK at Pyramid

BIG INK Printing Demo

WATCH BIG INK’S BIG TUNA PRESS IN ACTION

The Big Tuna returns to Pyramid Atlantic Art Center.

Discover local art during BIG INK weekend in Hyattsville on October 14 and 15. Artists from the local community will gather at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center to use The Big Tuna, a giant mobile printmaking press, to create large-scale relief prints. The event is open for the public to attend and observe the printing process. RSVPS requested to allow enough room for the press and artists.

BIG INK LLC, an art education company based in New England, is collaborating with Pyramid for the fourth time to organize this demonstration of fine-art printing. The demonstration will feature local and regional artists’ work. Each participant signed up for an online workshop to learn how to carve a woodblock. They have been working from home, receiving guidance from their instructor, BIG INK’s founder, Lyell Castonguay. The workshop culminates with an in-person meeting at Pyramid, where they print their finished carvings together.

Castonguay and his co-founder Carand Burnet will set up a portable print shop inside Pyramid’s upstairs gallery. Castonguay and his students will apply special ink to each woodblock, lay paper on top, and run it through The Big Tuna printing press. The backdrop for this event will be an exhibition of relief prints: Big and Little Inks, which includes 13 prints made on Big Ink’s Big Tuna.

“The printing demo at Pyramid celebrates artistic creation and forges new connections in the community,” states Castonguay. He adds, “We encourage the public to attend. It’s a chance to see the oldest form of printmaking still in practice today.”

Like the fish, The Big Tuna mobile press is large and powerful. It can print a wood carving up to 40 by 96 inches. Most equipment its size weighs several tons, but this model is custom-designed for travel. Since 2012, BIG INK has organized workshop demonstrations in partnership with museums, universities, art centers, and galleries nationwide.

Participating artists include Pamela Lawton, Sara Cottingham, Rebecca Perez, Gretchen Schermerhorn, Eli Woodbridge, Jared Davis, Holly Porter, Mygenet Harris, Sarah Harnish, Neil Chatterjee, Stacie Balkaran, Carolee Jakes, Jessica Jack, Steven Stichter, Kimberly King, Stacy Allen, Sarah Evans, Deborah Grayson, Shante Bullock.

The event is free and open to all ages on October 14 and 15, 11 AM – 4 PM. For more information, please visit bigink.org.

***A note about the event: masking is optional and encouraged. Reports indicate that there is a surge of the latest Covid-19 variant. We will have masks available should you want one on site. Also, if you feel unwell, please stay home and join us another time.**

Pictured: Kristelle Pliez printing on The Big Tuna with BIG INK at Pyramid Atlantic, 2019