Dasha Klein
At Spudnik Press, Dasha Klein will develop a series of artists’ books and editioned zines centered around objects collected from the eastern shores of Lake Michigan. Drawing from an ongoing practice of beachcombing, the project gathers bones, fossils, rocks, and discarded materials into a printed archive reflecting migration, memory, and environmental time.
After relocating to the Midwest from coastal New England, Klein became deeply attuned to the geological history of Lake Michigan and the traces embedded within its shoreline. Collecting organic forms and debris evolved into a meditative practice through which he began studying patterns of erosion, transformation, and sedimentation. The resulting works trace his movement from Michigan to Chicago, using found materials to consider grief, transition, and the emotional residue carried through place.
Through artists’ books and zines, Klein will combine experimental printmaking processes with collected imagery and textures derived from his beach finds. Working across lithography, Risograph, cyanotype, relief, and other analog techniques, he explores the tension between slow material processes and rapid image reproduction. By enlarging, fragmenting, and abstracting details from fossils and debris, the work shifts between microscopic and landscape-like perspectives, creating visual studies of accumulation, decay, and imprint. Klein also plans to experiment with printing on translucent fabrics layered with textures drawn from bones and stones, evoking the shifting surface and atmosphere of the lake itself.
Throughout the residency, Klein will use Spudnik Press’s facilities to further expand his print-based experiments and develop this evolving body of work. A public event will be announced in conjunction with the residency.
Dasha Klein (he/they) is a Chicago-based printmaker and art educator originally from Connecticut. Growing up in coastal New England, he developed an obsession with beachcombing and exploring old graveyards. His practice uses discarded materials and experimental printmaking to investigate burial, mourning, and transformation, often approaching fossils and tombs as physical records of past lives. Klein works across lithography, screenprinting, intaglio, Risograph, relief, and cyanotype. He received a B.A. in Studio Art from Oberlin College in 2023 and formerly served as Print and New Media Studio Manager at Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency. He currently volunteers at the Chicago Maritime Museum.