Untitled (Secret flights have carried dreams-if you fly you take off, if you float you stay), 1980; Lithograph, screen print; Image: 6 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches

Untitled [Flying’s no escape from landing, (make this one soft with me)], 1980; Lithograph, screen print; Image: 7 x 4 1/2 inches

The random print this week is one of two prints designated as “found in collection” in our database, which means the manner of acquisition is unknown. The lithographs were produced by Texas Tech MFA Alumni, Rebecca Riley whose work also appeared in Colorprint USA 10 in 1982.

Although the imagery depicts dangers and splendors of the American Southwest, the print is about relationships. Two different species of cacti in close relation to each other is, according to the artist, representative of the “unique mixture of cultures found in New Mexico.” Riley also notes that at the time the prints were produced, the late 1970’s or early 1980’s, using multiple printmaking processes in one print was not common, especially the combination of lithography and screen printing. Traditional printmaking was still very much unchallenged in the academic setting that Riley was educated in, and she says the print was considered to be ‘mixed media’ rather than a sum of the printmaking processes used to produce the work.

Michael Glenn