Mark Zaffron
"The American French Tool press is an extraordinary piece of equipment and I am reminded every time I use it why it is considered the finest press made. There is something enormously satisfying about working on a massively constructed press that is so precisely engineered. For almost a decade, the press has been used daily by myself and the hundreds of artists that have taken classes here and it works and looks the same as the day I got it. I am trying to think of anything else with which I cannot find a single flaw—can't do it."
Artist/ Printmaker
Bio
Mark Zaffron
-B.F.A. School of the Art Institute of Chicago
-M.F.A. San Francisco Art Institute
-Director and Founder, The Center for Research, Art, Technology, & Education - Oakland, CA
-Instructor,
San Francisco Art Institute - San Francisco, CA
Academy of Art University - San Francisco, CA
Artist Statement
I find that making art is about satisfying a series of curiosities--visual, technical, and intellectual. I enjoy the challenge of giving visual and physical form to what was once an abstract notion.
Thematically, my work is concerned with a long-held fascination with evolution as it applies to human environments. With the neighborhoods surrounding my studio as subject, the work examines adaptation, mutation, and the influence of a specific environment on the people and infrastructure.
The images are composed of many layers of information which offer a great deal of visual complexity with which to experiment. Similarly, I explore numerous ideas borrowed from diverse fields of inquiry--particle physics, abstract mathematics, ecomomics, anthropolgy, etc. These generate multiple layers of context which create a conceptual complexity that is vital to the work.
About My Studio
I founded The Center For Research, Art, Technology, & Education (The CRATE), in 1997 as a non-profit center for researching progressive materials and techniques for fine arts printmaking, and to serve as a fully equipped etching studio in which to work and conduct classes. Since 2000, I have been in a 2200 square foot space in Oakland, CA. The studio features a 30 x 48" Conrad American French Tool press, a tabletop 18" x 36" AFT press, and a vintage Fuchs & Lang lithographic press.
