Kreg Yingst

Initially trained as a painter (BA and MA), I first became interested in relief block-prints when I discovered the woodcut novels of printmakers Lynd Ward and Frans Masereel. The strong graphic contrasts of light and shadow, black and white, seemed to appeal to my aesthetic sensibilities. I quickly delved into the work of the German Expressionists and Mexican Socialists, and perhaps have been influenced in some way by all. My block-prints are carved out of wood or linoleum – a compression of cork, wood pulp, and linseed oil. I print each block on an obsolete Showcard sign press, and the larger prints I burnish by hand. The choice of paper and style are important in trying to create the correct feel for the subject matter. My ideas are a result of my interests in the narrative; story, poetry, lyric, and personal experience.