Artist Biography
Derick Wycherly is an enrolled member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy, Montana, and an artist who specializes in printmaking and papermaking. Derick received an MFA in 2022 from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in printmaking and a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2011. Derick’s prints on handmade paper can be found in Hand Papermaking’s Paper Portfolio #14, “The Language of Color”. Recently, Derick was awarded a LIFT – Early Career Support for Native Artists grant from the Native Arts and Culture Foundation.

Rachel Melis creates prints, books, and illustrations connecting cultural and biological cycles of growth and change. Her prints, books, and printed broadsides have been included in numerous gallery and library exhibitions and collections, and featured in 500 Handmade Books, 100 Handmade Books (Lark Books), and Sculpture magazine. Rachel received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and her BA from Grinnell College, Iowa. She lives in central Minnesota where she is an Associate Professor of Art and Co-Coordinator of the Book Arts Minor at the College of Saint Benedict & Saint John’s University.

Description of Process
This print is a collaboration between Rachel Melis and Derick Wycherly in consultation with the author.

Rachel composed digital Marion type in a circular shape that relates to the cyclical nature of gift-giving evoked by the excerpt while remaining readable. Then the type was printed in a dark reddish-black ink from a polymer plate. Derick created and proofed pressure prints cut into shapes found in nature, wrapped in lightweight paper and taped closed. We arranged the plates with the text to create a sense of movement and abundance. We pulled the pressure prints in a transparent olive-green ink with an eye for details suggesting layers of gift-wrap, and frequent roller-adjustments on a fidgety Vandercook SP-15.