Senior printmaker Daniel Stromberg focuses his energy on symbolic rather than expressive art. Because his chosen medium doesn’t allow for more gestural, “emotive” presentations, Stromberg said he focuses on discovering how meaning is created in icons such as street signs. The subject fascinates him to such an extent that he can now withstand his hatred for the color orange, a popular color among signs.
Daily Lobo: So, what is it about street signs?
Daniel Stromberg: I don’t know. They’re easy to recognize — like so easy to recognize that breaking it down, for me, is interesting, into what’s most recognizable about it. What does it mean to have things that you understand almost on a visceral level without thinking about them at all? I like trying to re-create that visceral experience without having an exact copy of a sign.
DL: What was it that prompted you to take the class in high school that inspired you to focus on printmaking? There are a lot of different art classes you could have taken.
DS: I think that there’s something special about printmaking.
There’s a moment when you take the paper away from the matrix, because a lot of times you’re working on one thing. You’re not working on the art itself, you’re making something that makes art. So when you see what you’ve made twice removed, it’s kind of a magical experience, I guess.
DL: So it’s a reproduction of something, but based off of what you made originally.
DS: For sure. I mean, in a lot of ways it’s more economical. You can make 20 prints and then sell them for $50 each instead of making one painting and trying to sell it for $350.
DL: So you like that the art can be bought cheaply?
DS: Yeah, there’s no reason to not just give them away.
DL: So, whereas some artists treat their art as something really precious and personal, you’re not so reluctant to give it away to people?
DS: Right, yeah. I mean, also since you’re so far removed from the art itself, making it, and because you get multiples, those two things make it easy to share it.
DL: Does that removal from your art change the way it comes out? I mean, you can tell when someone really invested a lot in a piece of art, so how does that change the way it appears?
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DS: I think in a lot of ways it makes it more thoughtful. It’s not very easy to make really gestural, emotive pieces of art in printmaking. I think it’s definitely more conceptual, scientific; you are continuously re-judging things you have done before and then adding to them.
DL: So it does have significance for you, even though you’re not emoting on paper?
DS: I think for me, it’s a method of discovery more than anything. Like I said, you’re working on something that’s not directly related to it, so the final product seems almost like something you make, and so in that way you can look at it and see something that you didn’t intend to do. It speaks to you in a different way, so it’s informative.
DL: So you surprise yourself, almost?
DS: Yes.
DL: Is that because you have limited control over what the final product is? Can you control most parts of the art?
DS: Definitely some of it is happy accidents. I guess those kinds of accidents definitely play into it.
