Chilean-American artist exhibit opens at library

Luca Cruzat likes to get her hands on the materials on which she prints.

Although digital printing offers many possibilities, which she exploits in some of her prints, Cruzat favors the methods she learned at Southern Illinois University because she can feel the textures of the papers and other materials she uses in the print making process.

She received her master of fine art degree in 2006.

She is fully engaged in her work and her print sales support her. Her husband seems to be her biggest fan.

She has exhibited nationally and internationally. Hong Kong, the UK, and Chile appear on her resume. In 2014 she presented an installation at the Printmaking Conference in San Francisco. In July she was part of the summer exhibition at the International Print Center of New York, followed by an exhibition at Christies Showroom, both in New York City. Locally, she had a solo installation piece, "Daedalus Wings," at the Gallery Space, Murphysboro. She participated in juried shows in South Bend Museum of Art, Ind., and the Bradbury Gallery, in Jonesboro, Ark.

One of her pieces, "Obedience," has a message about women's rights that is fairly easy to interpret. A woman stands on her head with sheep in the background.

"Women are asked to adopt the most ridiculous poses to satisfy society," she said.

"Some, but not all, follow like sheep."

"Crickets" demonstrates her use of digital processes to achieve her results. It features five large, colorful crickets in a circle.

She uses unexpected organic textured materials to make her plates for the printing process, such as cardboard, and old wood. She inks these plates and transfers the image to paper using a printing press. The technique is called collagraph.

She also does woodcuts which are done without benefit of a press.