I’m Danqi Cai, a rising junior Printmaking & HMST major. I interned for Island Press in St. Louis, MO for two months during the summer of 2017. As a research-based printmaking workshop at Washington University in St. Louis, Island Press has annual internship calls for spring and fall semesters, as well as summers. I came upon the print shop through a Google search in 2015, and was drawn to not only the stipend offered to summer interns, but also its dedication in research and education. Failing to secure the internship last summer, with my new experiences and skills I joined the team this summer and editioned projects of past visiting artists, including Dario Robleto, a transdisciplinary artist that I really admire.
Dario was the visiting artist of Island Press in 2016 and spent a little more than a week with us during the course of the internship. His project at WUSTL involves printing editions of 15 for a total of 50 images. The project called for innovative printmaking processes, and the four of us (three interns and one master printer) went through a lot of dividing and conquering, and trial and error, to ensure an efficient editioning process of the highest quality. Once the editioning process was fully fledged, we divided the roles into a sponger, a printer, a registration/smoker, and a shellac/smoker. While we each had something specific that we preferred to do, we still rotated our responsibilities regularly. In the end, each and every one of us had participated in and had achieved proficiency in every aspect of the production.
I gained several new skills as a result of the internship. Studio-wise, I was exposed to unconventional printmaking techniques and processes. Professionally, I gained insights into the workings of a professional print shop, and learned how to better communicate and work together as a team. Inter- personally, I met and got to know not only Dario, but also my team. We bonded over lunch breaks and more, and established valuable relationships. I still feel incredibly grateful for this experience to work in a research-based print shop with amazing people, and to meet and be further inspired by an artist like Dario.
