Past Fellow
Atlan Arceo-Witzl is a Mexican-American visual artist and creator whose work is concerned with everyday rituals, icons, symbols, objects, and language. In his artistic practice, the cultural production of print ephemera, craft of the sign-painting industry, redefining “American” through a Latinx lens, and documenting/ recording of events across multiple mediums/ languages are current points of focus. He is a graduate of Skidmore College with a Bachelors of Science in Studio Art with a concentration in relief printmaking and sculpture. He lives in Chicagoland, IL pursuing a career in the arts and education while enjoying the fascinating human game of communication.
For more, please check out Atlan’s member interview!
Services Offered:
- Exhibition Opportunities
- Graphic Design
- Illustration
- Printmaking Commissions
Website:
www.atlanaw.com/about
Project Statement:
While studying printmaking in my undergraduate program at Skidmore College, I found an interest in ritualistic repetition of form, communication through symbols, and collaboration between mediums. My heritage has played an important role in influencing the imagery of my work, drawing from Mesoamerican culture through to kitschy American print ephemera. There is a peculiar duality between things concrete and disposable, ancient and contemporary.
The visual effect of a print changes depending on its context and the way it is utilized. Some display words and images to advertise or bring attention to an idea. Some adorn a blank space, adding richness to the foundation layer. Others are the couriers, the mortar between human communications.
At Spudnik, I am interested in producing a cohesive body of work. I hope to experiment with printing on various substrates and combining different printing processes including letterpress, screen printing, woodcut relief, and risograph. Through this series, I seek to further explore the dynamic possibilities in communicating through symbols.
Lisa Armstrong is a multi-disciplinary designer, artist, and educator currently teaching at Loyola University Chicago in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts. She holds an MFA in Graphic Design with a concentration in Motion Graphics from California Institute of the Arts and a BFA in Graphic Design from DePaul University. Lisa has also received certificates in Design and Time and Poster Design from the Basel School of Design in Switzerland and is part of an electronic music collective called Chandeliers.
Services Offered:
- Exhibition Opportunities
- Graphic Design
- Printmaking Commissions
Website:
www.lisaglennarmstrong.com/
Project Statement:
In my work, I explore themes of metaphysics, healing, and vulnerability. As a motion and graphic designer, I often employ the use of typography combined with abstraction and illustrated forms. My thesis work in graduate school involved a series of projects centered around empathy, a subject I plan to continue to investigate through my fellowship at Spudnik Press Cooperative.
Products by this Artist:
Lya Finston is an artist, printmaker, and educator based in Chicago, IL. Born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in Cranford, NJ, Lya has since made the midwest her home. In 2018 she received a BA in Studio Art and German Language from Oberlin College, and in 2025, an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Iowa.
Lya has formerly served as a Lecturer at Harold Washington College, a Printmaking TA and Shop Technician at Bucknell University, and an Access Services Assistant at the Ryerson & Burnham Library of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Services Offered:
- Exhibition Opportunities
- Graphic Design
- Illustration
- Printmaking Commissions
Website:
lyafinston.cargo.site/
Classes by this Artist:
February 5 | Intro to Relief Printing (4 Weeks)
March 12| Relief Animation (4 Weeks)
April 21 | Linocut Block Printing (4 Hours)
Fellow
Vidisha Aggarwal is an interdisciplinary artist and curator based in Chicago. She received a Bachelors of Fine Art degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago(SAIC) in 2018. She has exhibited work at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Sullivan Galleries, and SITE Galleries. She has organized exhibitions at SAIC, SITE Galleries, the Design Museum of Chicago, Gallery no one, and Hairpin Art Center, while gaining exhibition making experience at the Graham Foundation, EXPO Chicago, Chicago Manual Style, and the Design Museum of Chicago.
Services Offered:
- Exhibition Opportunities
- Printmaking Commissions
Website:
vidishaaggarwal.com
Project Statement:
I would like to use my time at the Spudnik Press Cooperative to reflect upon and bring to fruition the many ideas that I experimented with throughout my school career to create a polished body of works that I can eloquently talk about, exhibit and share with the world.
My practice thus far has included creating experiential, interactive installations at a human scale that transform and manipulate the space around them through participation and interaction. An exploration that started with the intention to challenge the traditional roles of artists and viewers has now transcended into exploring more nuanced and personal topics of belonging, authorship, and agency that we as occupants have within the spaces that surround us. While I was previously drawn to the simplicity that my dyed and printed fabric constructions processed within the myriad of colors, textures and opacities employed, they lack a more concise language of mark making and representational content that could drive the work further. I would like to use silkscreen printing, as an extension of the drawing process, to translate images onto the fabrics that I have previously dyed and heat-pressed to combine the drawing, painting, and printing skills I have learned over the years with the surface that I have come to enjoy the most.
Paleta Press
At Paleta Press, I print using 100% wood and metal hand-set type and vintage images. My designs are influenced by my travels, ephemera, pop culture and the type and design inspiration I find along the way. Contact me if you would like to discuss custom letterpress/design work including cards, personal stationery and posters.
Follow Paleta Press on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paletapress/
Services Offered:
- Graphic Design
- Printmaking Commissions
Website:
www.etsy.com/shop/PaletaPress
Gary Lehman is a Chicago based visual artist. He captures the emotional and physical characteristics of a subject through gestures. The subject matter consists of emotional charged spaces, buildings or events. Currently he is working on a variety of linoleum block prints, which best characterize his linework and artistic style.
He has completed artwork across a range of media but all of it reflects is personal style. Currently he is working in a printmaking media and relief sculpture.
Services Offered:
- Exhibition Opportunities
- Illustration
- Printmaking Commissions
Website:
www.garywlehman.com/about/
Molly Bounds is a printmaker and illustrator living in Denver. Her prints explore how power, authority, and the structural training of doubt can undermine those who lack agency in determining their futures. Influenced by aesthetics and narrative sequencing within alternative comics and zine culture, she aims to emulate others who have used zines as a forum of dissemination of subjective experience, in order to voice stories which are rarely shared in normative culture.
Services Offered:
- Exhibition Opportunities
- Graphic Design
- Illustration
- Printmaking Commissions
Website:
mollybounds.com/
