Matrix: Contemporary Printmaking - Museum of Fine Arts - Florida ...

Fall 2009
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS EXHIBIT:
ARTISTS’ BIOGRAPHIES
Kabuya Bowens
Kabuya Bowens
The Blackburn Suite: Blackburn Wing Figures
2007
Kabuya Bowens’
interest in printmaking first
began while she was doing
graduate work for her MFA at
Pratt Institute in Brooklyn,
NY. Her early inspiration was
found in the work of German
artist Kathe Kollwitz and
American artist Elizabeth
Catlett, whose prints and
sculptures dealt with social
and political issues in relation
to the human condition. After
her graduate research
proposal to work with
Elizabeth Catlett was
accepted at Pratt Institute,
and Bowens was given a full
scholarship opportunity, she
was next introduced to
Robert Blackburn for an
independent study at The
Printmaking Workshop.
Bowens’ experience at
The Printmaking Workshop
with Blackburn heavily
influenced her work as a
printmaker. She learned to
work as a professional printer
for different artists, galleries,
and museums, getting the
opportunity to meet people
from all over the world. While
working with Blackburn, Bowens visited the facilities of the Tyler School of Art in
Philadelphia and transferred there, later traveling to Rome, Italy to work with Nona
Hershey.
Kabuya Bowens’ work is inspired by the visual critique of the African-American
experience in the United States, and explores ideas of memory, human relations, and
the questionable nature of truth. Her current work takes an interdisciplinary approach to
printmaking, concentrating on the unique and monoprint concepts of the printmaking
process rather than several images published in an edition. Her most recent creative
endeavor is Rituals and Masked Identities, a large group of prints consisting of several
smaller series.
Kabuya Bowens is an Assistant Professor of Art at Florida State University.
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