DIABLOS DE NANE

diablos de nane: printmaker reinaldo gil zambrano

By Ron Evans

Reinaldo Gil Zambrano is an awardwinning printmaking artist based in Spokane, WA from Caracas, Venezuela. From an early age, RGZ began collecting unique stories from random social encounters that highlight the common aspects of the human identity that later enriched the visual narratives of his drawings, relief prints, installations, and murals. This Friday he brings his show “Diablos de Nane” to Gallery One in Ellensburg. The opening also features Seattle’s Lisa Myers Bulmash, a collage and book artist who works primarily in acrylics, paper and found objects.

We chatted with Reinaldo about the show and the craft of fine-art printmaking.

Talk about your earliest dabbling into the art world?

I have been fascinated with drawing since an early age. Many times, I was drawing on my bedroom walls and my school books. I always enjoyed the idea of becoming an artist, having my work on exhibition, and painting large murals. I had my first group exhibition in high school while living at the United World College in Costa Rica. I see the art world like a video game where you, little by little, gain new skills and accomplish small victories towards your goals.

Assuming you were sketching or doodling in the early days, at what point did you get into printmaking?

R: I started exploring printmaking more seriously while in graduate school at the University of Idaho around 2014. I made this lousy woodcut with a fish with a gas mask, and after I pulled it, I got a hook into “the dark side” of ink on paper. Later that year, I went to my first Southern Graphic International Conference. After seeing so many talented artists from around the US and Mexico doing such a fantastic variety of work with printmaking and book arts, I saw multiple possibilities. I fell in love with the supporting print community, and since then, I continue to reach out, collaborate and learn while sharing the process with many others in our community. It is such an empowering process, and I continue to see it in my practice and everybody who tries it for the first time.

What type of printmaking do you prefer - and are you creating in other mediums as well?

I love relief printing because of the graphic quality and visual texture that a woodcut or linoleum block produces on paper and the carving process. It is a visual treat that is hard to move on from; however, I also enjoy screen printing and lithography. On the other hand, painting murals is another sweet way of making something big, engaging, and transformative to an inactive space. Murals are also tons of fun with a physical challenge. But, I approach every surface and idea from a drawing standpoint playing around with different marks and materials that enrich the visual narrative into their final form.

What part(s) of the print process do you most feel makes it different from pen and ink work or paintings? And take us through a typical (is there a typical one?) piece from concept to final print?

Printmaking, in general, is a processoriented craft where you get to wear several hats. While creating a print, you use drawing with pen on paper and later draw on a matrix. Next, you carve your drawing with a gauge or chisel, and your initial illustration is transformed and molded into something unique to be pressed finally and stamped on paper or fabric. Printmaking elevates any marks from your initial drawing or painting; you can use any of the previous as a way to design your sketch for your matrix. Once you start reducing the surface by carving, the resistance provided by the material against the gauge is satisfying and unique to any other art form.

Tell us about your upcoming show at Gallery One, and what inspired the title?

This show titled “Dancing Devils of Nane” is a personal challenge to work on a print series to build a body of work and create unique interpretations from my younger self memories from a fascinating cultural celebration from back home. There are seven woodcut prints

of masks inspired by the traditional handmade masks worn by the Dancing Devils of Corpus Christi, a traditional celebration and festivity from Yare, Venezuela. The dancing devils originated from small communities along the central coastal region of Venezuela as a unique way to celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi, an annual Roman Catholic holiday commemorating the presence of Christ in the Sacrament. Groups of adults, young men, and children disguised as masked devils dance backward in penitence as the Catholic Church’s official carries forth the Blessed Sacrament. String and percussion instruments provide musical accompaniment, and worshippers carry maracas to ward off evil spirits. At the climax of the celebration, the devils surrender to the Sacrament, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil.

You have been a bit experimental with the art of printmaking in the past, tell us about the First Vandal Steam Roller Project?

As a student, I wanted to print a 5x4 woodcut but did not have a press that big; instead of printing it by hand, I got inspired by Jim Bailey’s Steam Roller printing at Missoula, Montana. I decided to rent an asphalt roller and invite other students and makers. Together we used the asphalt roller as a makeshift press and had a blast printing large blocks on fabric in front of the local community. It is always fun to find new ways of doing things that you usually do and bring others into the process of experimentation. You always get to find a new trick, a new solution, or a new frustration that will trigger a thought, solution or disregard an idea.

The art world at large still seems to put paintings and painters on a bit of a pedestal in terms of what takes up the bulk of gallery wall space. Have you found that to be a hurdle as a printmaker or is that tide changing?

I heard someone asking me once if I picked printmaking because painting was more demanding, challenging, and competitive. Printmaking is wrongly considered less valuable because of its nature of multiples and the general association of the word “print” to digital copies. However, printmaking has contributed to reproducing ideas, making them accessible to many; it played a crucial role in social movements throughout history, empowering the people with their democratic multiples, while some paintings have been more limited to the elites. I see printmaking as a community-building tool that brings people together and elevates them, and many specialized galleries and museums also recognize its importance. But we must continue to educate the general public about the significance of printmaking and its value as an art form by engaging more individuals into the printing process, which goes beyond automatic digital reproductions.

Many of your pieces contain elements of manmade junk intertwined with nature scenes and dilapidated houses. What are you exploring with these themes?

Humans are interconnected with their environment and can develop their own homes and define their external worlds. I get inspired by the universal idea of home and its relation to the symbolism connected to the house. If you observe the work, the houses are not dilapidated; they are constructed with humble materials by the community’s support at the barrios. Contrary to their deceiving structures, they seek to illustrate the essential part that makes a home a home: the unconditional love that a family can develop to survive independently of how fancy a house is.

You manage an incredible amount of fine line work and depth in your pieces, are you working in a fairly large format?

I do like to work on a large format. I am fascinated with the idea of creating engaging visual narratives that absorb the viewer, or at least that is the intention. Also, the line is such a powerful element of design, and I enjoy pushing it to create more complex compositions and play with the dimension of a piece in a two-dimensional format.

With printmaking, I’m always curious about how the artists settle on a number to limit them to. Can you tell us a bit about your thoughts there?

I like to work on small editions of 10 to 20. I like for people to acquire something special, one of the few of these limited editions. On the other hand, printing an edition is less interesting for me than making the matrix.

Are you inspired by commercial illustration? And do you create work commercially, or strictly staying in the fine art world?

I like the challenge of creating with different prompts, so a few times have done commercial collaborations. I enjoy commercial work when I have creative freedom with the idea and materialize my idea’s vision. With RGZprints we also produce hand-carved relief printed limited edition t-shirts that go more into the commercial. We have different price points from stickers, wearables, fine art prints on paper, and murals, making it accessible for people to dive into starting their collection of artwork.

I’m just sayin’ I’d love some religious candles with your art on them. I don’t care who I’d have to pray to.

I am open for commission, only if the idea is intriguing and fantastic!

What’s up next for you following the Gallery One showing?

An epic road trip with my partner in crime: Ashley Vaughn.

Where can people follow your doings online?

My website is reinaldogilzambrano.com, and you can also find me on Instagram as @RGZprints. You will find any other links on my profile bio, regarding Pine Copper Lime (number 1 printmaking podcast) that I co-host in Spanish, and my online store on shopify. C