Could You Possibly?

A fellow student Susan Richardson in the UC Berkeley Extension class “Printmaking and Street Art as Activist Tools” tackled the issue of global warming in her first project by asking “Could you Possibly”. She created a series of linocuts printed on newspaper. Each of the prints has the text “Could You Possibly” at the top and “Save Our Mother – Maybe we Can” at the bottom. In between these words she poses a different suggestion, such as “Walk instead of Driving”, “Consume Less Waste Less”, and “Carpool”, on each print. Like so many of the issues we discuss in class, global warming is huge. How do you say something about it without just being depressing? We talked about ways to raise awareness or show that the actions of individuals can make an impact for positive change. I love how Susan approached the question with this series – her work draws your attention and makes you think.

Susan is an expert calligrapher who combines text and image in her mixed media work. It is no surprise that her use of hand lettered text in this series is so powerful. Her concept and its execution are brilliant. The prints, in a limited palette of black, green, orange and red, made a big impact covering an entire wall with them in one section of her solo show at UC Berkeley Extension.