Guest blog post by Paloma Mayorga
Mismatched Eiffel Towers, witches on broomsticks, Mickey and Minnie Mouse heads, a tiny replica of the infamous Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign — just a few of the many recognizable landmarks on Tim Pauszek’s tenderly rendered lithographs in PrintAustin’s 2023 5×5 exhibition.
Pauszek remembers his late mother in his print series titled “Mom’s Spoons”, which depict an assorted collection of travel spoons. Growing up in the Rust Belt town of Dunkirk, New York, Pauszek recalls getting few opportunities for family vacations and understood the prized keepsakes as physical objects through which his working-class mom could experience the world. Now, the artist carries on her affinity for the collectible silver souvenirs and has even added a few of his own to the family collection.
Pauszek reveals specific memories through the artwork titles as well. Thanks for the Wedding Rings (Miranda Loves Them), for instance, depicts three spoons, one each from Las Vegas, Japan, and Thailand, marking significant life moments in his journey with his wife and fellow printmaker Miranda Metcalf. “They each tell a story, the spoons themselves represent these mile markers,” Pauszek shares in his recent interview with Metcalf on Hello, Print Friend.
In his work, Pauszek illustrates a sense of nostalgia for a simpler time. “I have this longing for home, for this place that feels safe and secure, and where I’m supposed to be.” His desire for connection to family and place inadvertently fuels the artist’s interest in printmaking as a medium and in many ways brings him back full circle to a long lineage of trade laborers.
His father, who specializes in making offset lithography ink for the commercial printing industry, has also served as a direct source of inspiration for Pauszek’s work in the past. By considering industrial manufacturing techniques within the realm of fine art, the artist finds solace in a community of workers who, much like his forefathers, value craft and take pride in their individual skill set.
Learn more about Tim Pauszek’s work by visiting timpauszek.com.
About the Exhibition
PrintAustin’s 5X5 is one of the organization’s annual juried shows presented during the month-long PrintAustin festival.
Started in 2021 as an online exhibit, five artists are selected based on a cohesive body of work made up of five print-based works. In 2023, PrintAustin added a new dynamic to the open call and had two jurors pulling from identical submissions, creating two separate exhibitions–one hosted by Link&Pin during PrintAustin, and the other to be presented at form & concept during the inaugural sister festival, Print Santa Fe in April 2023.
This year’s 5×5 exhibition in Austin was juried by Holly Borham, Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings, and European Art at the Blanton Museum of Art, and curated by Annalise Gratovich, Texas printmaker and PrintAustin Board of Director Member.
PrintAustin partners with Miranda Metcalf and Reinaldo Zambrano of Hello, Print Friend and Jamal Barber of Studio Noize Podcast to conduct interviews with each of the selected artists to dive deeper into their artistic practice and inspiration behind their works.
If you enjoy the PrintAustin blog or any of the podcast interviews, please consider making a donation to PrintAustin and help continue our artist-led efforts to share our love of printmaking!
You can view the 2023 5×5 Catalog here or purchase a copy by emailing info@printaustin.org.
Featured Image: Installation view of Timothy Pauszek’s work at Link&Pin for PrintAustin’s 2023 5×5 exhibition. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
