BY SHALEEN DESTEFANO
Lucy Holtsnider is a visionary printmaker whose work bridges the gap between artistry and activism. With an unparalleled command of texture, layering, and form, she transforms printmaking into a powerful storytelling medium—one that speaks to both the beauty of the natural world and the urgent need to protect it. Her work is a testament to the power of art as a force for change, drawing viewers into a dialogue about climate resilience and environmental responsibility. Through intricate compositions and innovative techniques, Lucy captures the delicate balance between human impact and nature’s endurance, inspiring action through the sheer force of her craft.
Can you tell us how your journey as an artist began?
I grew up in Littleton and I was constantly outdoors running around in a pack with my little sister, the neighbor kids and our dogs. I’ve always been an observant person and I think those many hours spent outside taught me to take notice of the world around me and how it felt. As a kid it didn’t take any conscious effort to note the smell of the air before it rained or how the colors shifted at the park near our house depending on the angle of the sun throughout the year. We also did a lot of crafts at home and I always loved art class in school.
Being outdoors has always been an important part of who you are. How does this influence your artistic perspective and approach?
I continued to spend a lot of time outside as I got older, first as a cross country runner in high school, and then in college when I went camping and backpacking for the first time. Around that time I also learned about climate change and how the high alpine ecosystems I was falling in love with are gravely threatened by rising temperatures.
During those years I began to channel my unconscious sensory observations of my environment into the art I was making for classes as an art major at Colorado College. I would always circle back to sense of place as a theme in my work, and sometimes to how that place was being impacted environmentally, even when I had to complete an assignment that was totally unrelated. Rooting my work in my felt sense of where I lived kept coming up no matter what point I started from.
Eventually I began to understand my habit of observation as a form of collecting source material that I could use in the studio later. I found that I was storing a cache of these blurry scenes in my mind, each one capturing a unique lighting scenario and set of colors. There’s a touch of synesthesia involved because I can feel the color memory as much as I can picture it. As a kid that was just how it felt to live inside my head and now I treasure that way of remembering as a powerful tool in the studio.
In your collages, you combine monotype prints, handmade paper, and found objects. What draws you to these materials, and how do they shape the meaning of your work?
Monotype prints, in which ink is laid down on a surface in a unique way and printed once versus in an edition of identical prints, are this exciting and immediate way of getting color onto the page. I love the challenge of mixing up a pile of ink to match a swatch from my Pantone guide. One time I was showing a group of non artist friends around my studio and casually dropped that I could mix any color. They were like, “Wait, any color?” and I said yeah, any color! I hadn’t realized that it was a weird brag because it felt like sharing a practical statement that described one of the main reasons I’m drawn to printmaking.
These days I use a Vandercook letterpress in my studio to make vibrant monotype prints that include gradients, textures, and other visual experiments. I hang them in a grid on my studio wall in a way that brings that mental cache of color memories to life. Once I have a critical mass of prints, I start cutting up and layering them into collages. Over the years I’ve incorporated other materials too including wood, handmade paper, ceramics, and even some purple sea anemone spines. I love that including an unexpected new material can add a bit of mystery for the viewer. My recent work incorporates ceramic tiles for the first time and I’m finding that people really respond to those. But I think monotype prints will always be the most important material because they set the color palette and connect all the different materials to one another.
Your recent collaboration with PlatteForum involved teaching printmaking techniques to high school ArtLab interns. How does mentoring young artists inspire your own creative process?
I’ve always loved teaching and the Platte Forum residency felt like it was an ideal fit for my experiences and skills as a teaching artist. I brought an etching press into the classroom and I think the high schoolers found that learning new equipment can level up the seriousness of a workshop. They rose to the challenge and made some impressive monotype prints over the two months that we worked together.
I love that teaching gives me a chance to practice explaining a process through a combination of written and verbal instruction, demonstrations, and finished examples. I enjoy finding the right sequence of these to help a student learn a new technique quickly so they can get to the fun, experimental stage as soon as possible. Seeing students light up when a new technique clicks is a thrill that reminds me how much I love printmaking. It’s also a nudge for me to get back into the studio to keep experimenting myself.
How has living in Denver shaped your work, and are there any aspects of the local art scene that particularly resonate with you?
I’ve lived in Denver for five years and I absolutely love the art scene here. I spent a few years living outside of both LA and New York City, so I got to meet a lot of younger artists and attend openings regularly in both. Both of those cities are massive and there are many different art scenes in any city, but I found both to be a bit cliquey. More work was being sold than in Denver, but it was a much more competitive atmosphere. I’ve found Denver to be more diverse, collaborative, and merit-based in regards to who is showing their work. I feel lucky to be growing my art career at the same time that Denver’s art scene is growing and expanding. It’s a delight to walk into a local gallery or artist-run space on a First Friday knowing I’ll always run into someone I know and have a great conversation. I want to give a shout out to Alto Gallery, I Found Leon, Bell Projects, Friend of a Friend, Pablo’s Coffee, SeeSaw, and Redline which are a few of my favorites.
Mapping and cartography play an important role in your pieces. How do they inform your storytelling?
Maps connect us to the outdoors and are a literal representation of the place in sense of place. Though I confess I’m not great at using maps to orient myself outside, I am always on the hunt for a great abstract shape and maps are packed with those. I have to be discerning though because people love to look at an abstract collage I’ve made and tell me, “It’s just like the shape of Ohio!” or another state or cartoon character or something. The sweet spot for me is when the individual shapes kind of disappear into the composition as a whole. I would love for the viewer to be able to just get lost in the colors and textures instead of puzzling over what a specific shape reminds them of. I like when one of my collages suggests earthy visuals like geologic layers or satellite imagery without literally depicting those, and pulling from the shapes and linework in maps can contribute to that effect.
Your work has been featured in various exhibitions. What do you look for when selecting venues or collaborations?
A friend recently asked me what my business strategy is as an artist and I told her it was to keep my day job (I work as a graphic designer for the CO Department of Revenue) and make art that brings me joy. This applies to opportunities for shows and collaborations too – they have to feel fun. If I cram too many things into one year, or try to chase a show or opportunity down for the resume boost, the fun disappears and going to the studio starts to feel like a chore.
Ideally each thing I apply for is growing my practice and my community in some new way. Platte Forum was an obvious choice for me to apply to because it introduced me to a bunch of new people; from Platte Forum staff, to past residents, to non-artists who came to the final show because they were interested in the environmental component. It also allowed me to explore ceramics for the first time and to expand my knowledge of environmental justice in Denver.
Printmaking is such a layered and tactile medium. What first drew you to it, and what keeps you engaged in the process?
I had a wonderful graphic design teacher in high school named Mr. Billeisen and that class taught me that I loved working with crisp, tidy shapes in a composition while thinking critically about color choices. When I got to CC I took a bunch of classes in different departments until I found that the print shop on campus was run by these fantastic women who I connected with. They all had the same Type A personality and an open, expansive way of thinking that I have. I’m probably a printmaker today because I looked up to Jean, Kate, and Heather both as people and as artists whose work I admired. I also fell in love with color mixing and the layering you referenced, and have been completely obsessed with printmaking ever since. There are an infinite number of ways to make a print and I never get bored with experimenting.
Are there specific experiences or moments that have deeply influenced a particular series or piece?
The series of collages that I just completed for the Platte Forum residency was influenced by a number of things including pollution and air quality, as well as neighborhoods and how cities use and reuse different parcels of land. I also wanted to try marbling different colors of clay together to create flat tiles that could be incorporated into the final collages. I love how marbling clay moves color around in a way that’s kind of unpredictable to me and also totally impossible using printmaking. I see it as a form of monotype ceramics in which each tile is unique and also more two dimensional than three. I hope that the colors from the tiles and from the prints suggest interaction between natural spaces and areas that are tainted by human impact.
How do you balance the aesthetic aspects of your art with the larger ideas or messages you hope to convey?
I tend to float back and forth between making art that has an environmental message and work that’s totally abstract. I think the collages I make that are related to an environmental theme are more interesting conceptually, and in the case of Platte Forum they can draw media attention. It was exciting to have so many different news outlets cover the show and that would never have happened had the show been just abstract pieces. But working purely abstractly keeps me sharp in terms of color and composition, and keeps all of the art that I make more exciting visually. There is also a financial consideration in that artwork with a message can be harder to sell, especially when it relates to something heavy like climate change. Fully abstract work is more likely to find a home, and at some point all artists need to sell some work in order to keep making it.
Are there new techniques you’re excited to explore?
I’m looking forward to continuing with incorporating ceramics into my collages. In order to hang the heavy ceramic tiles alongside the lightweight prints, I had to develop a new technique of mounting all of the components onto laser cut plywood. It was tricky to figure out but now I’m able to make collages that don’t need a frame and are easy for a person to hang in their house. This will allow me to expand to making larger work that incorporates materials of different weights like wood, stone, or other found objects. I’m working on some pieces for a collage themed show at the Arvada Center this September, so keep an eye out!
To learn more about Lucy’s work and upcoming exhibitions, visit www.lucyholtsnider.com.