Reception January 20, 4 pm - 6 pm
Artist talk: January 20 at 4:30 pm

Flatbed is excited to present an exhibition of woodcuts and etchings by Annalise Gratovich during Austin’s celebrated Print Month. Gratovich is an innovative printmaker who was awarded the title of Creative Ambassador of Visual Arts in 2019 by the City of Austin and exhibits extensively nationally and internationally, most recently in Buggenhagen, Germany, New York, NY, Dawson City, Yukon, San Antonio, Texas, Fargo, South Dakota and Austin, Texas.

Included in this exhibition are seven of Gratovich’s large woodcuts from the series Carrying Things from Home. The complete suite of eight 71" by 40” woodcuts with hand dyed chine collé is co-published by Flatbed Press and Gratovich. To date seven of the eight images have been published in editions of 7. Also included in the exhibition are Gratovich’s etchings and smaller woodcuts.

The Villager series explores themes of displacement, self- and cultural identity, intention and accountability, as well as burden and regret. Each figure in the series is a totemic being who serves an individual purpose. The Mariner, The Hunter, The Builder, The Undertaker, The Musician, The Mother, and The Healer are included in the exhibition. The figures are based on matryoshka dolls (Russian stacking dolls) and the textile patterns are derived from Ukrainian embroidery, either in patterning or stylistic outline. This nod to the traditional and folk arts of the lands of Gratovich’s heritage, Ukraine and Texas, is used to invoke feelings of nostalgia and memories or fantasies of faraway places that are lost or cannot be returned to.