This month our featured member is Stephanie Stigliano – renowned book artist, printmaker, and painter. Long a pivotal force in the New England arts scene, she is also widely recognized as a mentor, teacher, and curator. The level of respect Stigliano has earned is reflected in her exhibition record and the prestigious institutions which collect her work. She has received many awards but most meaningful to her are the connections with legions of pupils who credit her with playing a decisive role in their lives.
FIND IT! Sketches, 2020
Accordion fold, ink wash on watercolor paper
Watercolor on reverse, visible when lit from behind
pages 5 x 5”, 5 x 30″ open
Stigliano lives in Malden, MA and earned her MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston. As an undergraduate at Philadelphia College of Art, she received a degree in Crafts and then worked as a jeweler in fine metals and as a designer of costume jewelry. Her desire to tell stories led her to make books, and the level of craft she learned as a jeweler is evident in her work. Locally, her books are in the collections of the Houghton Library and the Harvard Museums in Cambridge, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in the National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington, DC, and internationally in the Book Art Museum of Łodz, Poland. She distinguished herself through her significant leadership in such projects as the internationally acclaimed Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here, its prints and books continue to be exhibited worldwide, and a printmaking exchange between students at Walnut Hill School for the Arts and The Technical College of Reykjavik in Iceland. She curated many shows including the recent Legacy: Passing the Torch, an exhibition of mentors and their students, at the Hess Gallery of Chestnut Hill, MA.
Viruses and Cohorts, 2020
One of a Kind, Cptic binding with colored on altered prints
3.75 h x 3 w x 1.5″ depth, open 6″
Photo credit: Stephanie Stigliano
Teaching is of central importance to Stigliano. She has taught Printmaking and Books as Art at Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, MA since 2007. She led numerous artist book workshops through Art New England, most recently Between the Covers: Books as Art in 2019. Since March of this year, she feels she has reinvented herself by making the move to remote teaching and developing new ways to connect with fellow artists. In this time of COVID, she is dedicating her time to reaching out online, personalizing the virtual studio experience, and building a renewing, communal experience.
Hope and Despair, 2020
One of a kind, Coptic bound, Dos-à-Dos bind, leather, feathers, embossment, piercing
7.5 h x 4 w x 2.5″ depth, open 10″
Photo credit: Stephanie Stigliano
In the midst of the pandemic in March, the artist made three books. She used her old makeup and included false eyelashes in All Dolled Up, to be included in Cristina Hajosy’s Vagenda exhibit. The pages of Viruses and Cohorts depict the lovely one we are still finding out about and known enemies such as ebola and rubella. Who knew these deadly invisible bugs were so pretty? Hope and Despair was inspired by the roller coaster of feelings brought on by the pandemic, and inspired by Emily Dickinson’s poem “Hope is the thing with feathers” and what Pandora discovered at the bottom of the box. The artist describes this leather-bound Coptic dos-à-dos as a compact little talisman to carry in your pocket. The thick watercolor pages are painted in sparkling black and white, and embossed with a range of rhythmic patterns. The artist contrasted the delicate, fleeting feeling of hope with the drowning seduction of despair. Stigliano made geometric perforations on the pages and wove feathers through each cut. Their graceful movement, along with their fluffy softness, brings an unexpected element to the piece and reflect the artist’s goal to create a tactile experience for her audience. This small, thought-provoking piece speaks quietly to the dual emotions of its title, which so many of us are experiencing during these strange and unprecedented times.
Tuesday Art and Saturday Art
July 14, 2020: Kangaroo, Mountains, Tree, Web, Clown, Musical Instrument, Dots, Fish
Ink wash drawing with colored pencil
11 x 12”
Stigliano meets weekly with two online groups who make art together. During Tuesday Art, now meeting online, the members have been playing a word/image game. These collaborations will be exhibited online in October through the Goodnow Library of Sudbury, MA. Stigliano’s piece, Mountains, Clouds, Clown, Musical Instrument, Spiderweb, Fish, Dots, Ruffle, Tree, is an example of one of these drawings, and is full of whimsy and wonder. Combining ink wash drawing with colored pencil, she renders an imaginary landscape that illustrated the words contributed by each member of Tuesday Art. To unify the random string of images is an extra challenge of the game. The members of Saturday Art are using of the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood as a point of departure. The artists work independently or collaborate virtually. Since June, this unpublished project has resulted in over 100 illustrations!
FIND IT! Paper Dolls, 2020
Original pen and ink wash drawing with colored pencil, reworked in Photoshop
10 x 10”
Stigliano comments, “Sharing democratically was what I most wanted to do with my art: to find a form accessible to all,” and she succeeds brilliantly with this piece, which is a part of a series begun in July. Recognizing the current predicament faced by parents with young children, she initiated FIND IT! as an antidote to this hardship. In this project, she invented “hidden picture” drawings for children and sent them weekly via email. Subscribers of all ages printed and drew on the pictures. In Paper Dolls, a small boat with oars and a lifesaver figure prominently in a scene where a thick, rope meanders through a fanciful scene. It is filled with a menagerie of creatures from land, sea, and air. These include a large flamingo and a little girl with long braids. The opposite page pictures the images to be cut-out, including three pairs of flamingo legs playfully wearing different foot-wear, each of which can be superimposed on the big bird at right.
Carousel Book, 2015
Mixed media sample for students
9 x 7 x 6″
Accomplished, generous, and humble are just some of the words that describe this gem of a person, this wonderful artist. Stephanie Stigliano has played a key role in the formation of NEBA. When Marie Canaves approached her in in September of 2019 with the idea of forming a group of book artists, she readily and generously wrote a letter of introduction to her friends and colleagues in the local book arts scene. Since then, her input has been invaluable to our organization, and she currently serves as NEBA Newsletter Editor. Thank you for all you do for the arts community, and thank you playing such an important part in the creation of our group. NEBA raises its hat to you!
Stephanie’s Current Online Arts Teaching:
Artist Books: Beyond the Fold
through MassArt’s Continuing Education.
4 meetings: 2 hours each. Monday nights 7:00pm-9:00pm
October 19 & 26 and November 2 & 9
Space available!
Printmaking without a Press: Monoprinting with a Gelli-Plate
October 18 & 25
10:00am-12:30 pm
Contact: stephaniestigliano@gmail.com
Space available!
And for parents and children to learn and enjoy drawing online; experiences they can recreate at home:
Collaborative Drawing Games for Building Imagination and Community
Hosted by atac160
Drop-in event: Tuesdays 6:30-8:00 pm, weekly beginning September 29
Tickets
Facebook event page
See more of Stephanie’s Book Arts in her NEBA Member Listing!
Post-its, Installation, 2020
Rubbings and watercolor assignment sample done for students
2 different views: on the front door and blowing in the breeze from the clothesline.