Saskia Krafft
Printmaking Alumni Interview – Neiman Center 25th Anniversary Catalogue
LNCPS: Printmaking at the Neiman Center is community driven. What was your experience of community at the Neiman Center and did it have an impact on your experience as a student in the MFA program at Columbia?
Saskia Krafft: The Neiman community gave me a sense of home throughout the time of the MFA program. By spending 2-3 days working together in the shop, I got to know everyone involved so much better. It gave me a family so far away from my home country Germany. I loved that the Neiman Center was a way for us to all work together on art projects and teach each other -- which can be hard to find time for during the busy two years of the MFA program.
LNCPS: Do you have a favorite project that you worked on as a Fellow? What made it memorable?
Saskia Krafft: I loved the project “Cupboards, Closets, and Lockers” by Mark Dion. The series of laser-etched lithograph sculptures reflected perfectly how ambitious the Neiman Center is and how multidisciplinary a print gets interpreted. Mark Dion is known for his blue and red pencil drawings and his conceptual installations. I helped assemble the lasercut offset lithographs of Dion’s drawings into laser-engraved “installations” made out of silver paper and wood veneer. The project was also a reflection of the long-lasting friendships that the Neiman Center has with its artists.
LNCPS: Did working at the Neiman Center influence your artistic practice?
Saskia Krafft: Yes, I started utilizing materials and processes that we were working with in the Neiman Center in my sculptural installation work. I became interested in incorporating steel and copper, in treating the materials similarly to the processes in making a print. Also the idea of working collaboratively and understanding the team effort of making a print as a piece of performance art lead to two performances (one during my printmaking class that I TAed for) I did. The performances were concerned with the un/making of materials, the de/construction of objects, and how we work together.
LNCPS: What was your experience working collaboratively with a master printer, invited artists and your peers to edition artists’ projects?
Saskia Krafft: Working on edition artists’ projects was always the best collage of performing the “printing dance”, a good workout, getting to know my peers better, having a nice meal together, and expanding my own skills as a printmaker and artist.
Artists-in-residence were very curious to get to know us students and eager to share about their work and journey as an artist. I loved getting to know them and creating their projects for them.
LNCPS: Was there something that you learned at the Neiman Center that has stayed with you even after graduation?
Saskia Krafft: I learned to always continue to honor my community and friends. To be kind and supportive -- towards myself and of others. And that although the circumstances of making (art)work might seem hard, to have fun with it and just DO.
LNCPS: Please feel free to share any additional comments or anecdotes.
Saskia Krafft: I would like to thank the Neiman Center team -- especially Tomas, Nathan, Marie, and Cary for their faith in me and their support during this journey. Special thanks to the LeRoy Neiman Foundation without whose fellowship I could have not completed my MFA studies.
Another great memory of mine was to be a performer during the opening of “Occupy Mana” for Tomas Vu & Rirkrit Tiravanija. Duy Hoàng, Nathan Catlin, and I screenprinted with clay in the FEAR EATS THE SOUL installation while Jonas Mekas sang. I really liked how complex this pieces became and how many issues and topics it addressed. A great experience!
