In s3e11, Platemark host Ann Shafer talks with artist LaToya M. Hobbs whose commissioned installation will be on view as visitors enter the IFPDA Print Fair at the end of October 2022. The works will be front and center at the entrance and will no doubt garner lots of attention for LaToya. Speaking with LaToya was a distinct pleasure for Ann because the artist is based in Baltimore, is full-time faculty at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and recently had a monumental, five-part, carved wood piece on view at the Baltimore Museum of Art, which the museum subsequently purchased for its permanent collection.

LaToya’s work deals with figurative imagery that addresses the ideas of beauty, cultural identity, and womanhood as they relate to women of the African Diaspora. LaToya is a founding member of Black Women of Print, a collective whose vision is to make visible the narratives and works of Black women printmakers, past, present, and future. LaToya grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, received her B.A. in painting from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and earned an M.F.A. in printmaking at Purdue University.

Because of LaToya’s commission for the 2022 IFPDA Print Fair in New York (that’s the International; Fine Print Dealers Association), that Association is sponsoring this episode of Platemark.

Episode image by Mike Jon; photos of Hobbs’ artwork by Ariston Jacks.

 

Elizabeth Catlett (American and Mexican, 1915–2012), published by Taller de Grafica Popular, Mexico City. Sharecropper, 1952. Color linoleum cut. Image: 17 5/8 x 16 5/8 in. (44.77 x 42.23 cm.); Sheet: 22 x 19 5/8 in. (55.88 x 49.85 cm.). Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis.

LaToya M. Hobbs (American, born 1983). Portrait of a Mother, 2019. Oil, acrylic, and relief carving on wood panel. 72 x 48 inches.

Installation view of LaToya M. Hobbs (American, born 1983). Carving Out Time, 2020-21. Five panels: acrylic, ink, and relief carving on cherry wood panel. Each: 96 x 144 inches. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

LaToya M. Hobbs (American, born 1983). Carving Out Time Scene 1: Morning, 2020-21. Acrylic, ink, and relief carving on cherry wood panel. 96 x 144 inches. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

LaToya M. Hobbs (American, born 1983). Carving Out Time Scene 2: Homeschool and Housework, 2020-21. Acrylic, ink, and relief carving on cherry wood panel. 96 x 144 inches. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

LaToya M. Hobbs (American, born 1983). Carving Out Time Scene 3: Dinner Time, 2020-21. Acrylic, ink, and relief carving on cherry wood panel. 96 x 144 inches. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

LaToya M. Hobbs (American, born 1983). Carving Out Time Scene 4: Bedtime for the Boys, 2020-21. Acrylic, ink, and relief carving on cherry wood panel. 96 x 144 inches. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

LaToya M. Hobbs (American, born 1983). Carving Out Time Scene 5: Studio Time, 2020-21. Acrylic, ink, and relief carving on cherry wood panel. 96 x 144 inches. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

Kerry James Marshall (American, b. 1955). Untitled, 1999. 8-color woodcut, 12 panels; 243.8 x 1,524 cm. Orlando Museum of Art. Photo: Howard Agriesti. © Kerry James Marshall. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Charles White (American, 1918–1979). Voice of Jericho (Folksinger), 1958. Linoleum cut. Sheet: 1003 x 540 mm. (39 1/2 x 21 1/4 in.); image: 917 x 458 mm. (36 1/8 x 18 1/16 in.). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

Nicholas Nixon (American, born 1947). Portraits of the Brown Sisters.

Bisa Butler (American, born 1973). Four Little Girls, September 15, 1963, 2018. Cotton, silk, and lace. 61 x 78 in. (154.9 x 198.1 cm.). Collection of Michelle and Pete Scantland.

LaToya M. Hobbs (American, born 1983). Stargazer (Theo), 2022. Woodcut. Image: 24 x 28 inches; sheet: 27 x 20 inches.

LaToya M. Hobbs (American, born 1983). Black Women of Print Founding Member Delita Martin, 2022. Acrylic and collaged paper on carved wood panel. 36 x 24 in.

LaToya M. Hobbs (American, born 1983). Mrs. Burroughs, from the portfolio Black Women of Print, 2019. Woodcut. 15 x 11 inches.

LaToya M. Hobbs (American, born 1983). Birth of a Mother, 2019. Acrylic, collage, and relief carving on wood panel. 48 x 72 inches.

Swoon (Caledonia Curry; American, born 1977). Installation at the IFPDA Print Fair, 2019.

LaToya M. Hobbs (American, born 1983). Genette’s Daughters, 2022. Relief carved wood panel. 48 x 96 inches.

 

USEFUL LINKS

https://www.latoyamhobbs.com/

https://www.instagram.com/latoyahobbs/

Video by Ariston Jacks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RCxjicLItE

Video of Big Ink printing Carving Out Time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt-qK803jI8

Link to Big Ink: https://www.bigink.org/