https://vidasacic.net Vida Sacic Sun, 19 Oct 2025 22:59:12 +0000 https://vidasacic.net en https://vidasacic.net/Home-Body-Land-1 Thu, 06 Apr 2023 21:53:57 +0000 Vida Sacic https://vidasacic.net/Home-Body-Land-1 <img width="1800" height="857" width_o="1800" height_o="857" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b8c152bc1af35a28c40119fbae6be7c20ff4c3233262870a894b1613bfa8c94b/BHL_panorama.jpg" data-mid="233104743" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b8c152bc1af35a28c40119fbae6be7c20ff4c3233262870a894b1613bfa8c94b/BHL_panorama.jpg" /> <img width="1000" height="1494" width_o="1000" height_o="1494" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3783915ef85f6393cd20b409c6d8d289f9ab1d57cc976ef6607281968ed37b62/BODY2.jpg" data-mid="233104749" border="0" alt="body, 40x58 in" data-caption="body, 40x58 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3783915ef85f6393cd20b409c6d8d289f9ab1d57cc976ef6607281968ed37b62/BODY2.jpg" /> <img width="1226" height="1832" width_o="1226" height_o="1832" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b60b551eefecfb3f138ffcea846e2dfa4406ecd36dee95453705496b49f11a62/IS_MY2.jpg" data-mid="174521619" border="0" alt="is my, 40x58 in" data-caption="is my, 40x58 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b60b551eefecfb3f138ffcea846e2dfa4406ecd36dee95453705496b49f11a62/IS_MY2.jpg" /> <img width="1000" height="1494" width_o="1000" height_o="1494" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/94180268910590c0ecd72cfa1ca50f626faad1cbc5bb22af0635bcb6d9739275/HOME-2.jpg" data-mid="233104747" border="0" alt="home, 40x58 in" data-caption="home, 40x58 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/94180268910590c0ecd72cfa1ca50f626faad1cbc5bb22af0635bcb6d9739275/HOME-2.jpg" /> <img width="1226" height="1832" width_o="1226" height_o="1832" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/30ae968302063f57ba1037cbf9b2759c296fc783fe26724d4a9fb235a108f327/LAND3.jpg" data-mid="174521618" border="0" alt="land, 40x58 in" data-caption="land, 40x58 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/30ae968302063f57ba1037cbf9b2759c296fc783fe26724d4a9fb235a108f327/LAND3.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4936" width_o="4200" height_o="4936" data-src="//freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e5015db8519ade45c0e2256df34153f3c3ed060ae0174ada802298ecd68424ea/VV_6475.jpg" data-mid="138880041" border="0" style="width: 343.349728px; height: 470.770627px; display: none;" data-scale="36"> Letterpress Wood type Edition 2- 4 each Home / Body / LandHome Body Land was created at the Hamilton Wood Type &amp; Printing Museum using their extensive historic collection of large wood type. Immersing myself in the space, once a major American manufacturing site, I reflected on the physical and conceptual weight of the tools and their histories. The work was printed in multiple panels, using layered letterforms to build abstract, fractured compositions. Through movement and rhythm, I engaged with the printing process as a form of embodied memory.&nbsp; The act of printing became a somatic ritual, linking my own body to past makers and collective expressions of resilience. Created during the early stages of the war in Ukraine, Home Body Land confronts the trauma of displacement through visual fragmentation.&nbsp; This work explores the concept of the body as a portable home, reclaiming a sense of belonging through physicality and print. “Home Body Land” is pictured here as it was installed at the Newberry Library as part of the exhibition Immigrant Printing in Chicago in 2025. April 2022 https://vidasacic.net/Mi-Igramo Tue, 28 Mar 2023 23:59:16 +0000 Vida Sacic https://vidasacic.net/Mi-Igramo <img width="5499" height="3714" width_o="5499" height_o="3714" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/322e46e7571249a570101e4d71066f4b094759cbee93ca3073dc62f8352434af/VS_3632_smaller.jpg" data-mid="173430158" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/322e46e7571249a570101e4d71066f4b094759cbee93ca3073dc62f8352434af/VS_3632_smaller.jpg" /> <img width="5748" height="4089" width_o="5748" height_o="4089" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8fca7bdd1d01c3c4a01271bc023e745f109d85784b053cb39f9731cfeae4a741/VS_3640_smaller.jpg" data-mid="173430302" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8fca7bdd1d01c3c4a01271bc023e745f109d85784b053cb39f9731cfeae4a741/VS_3640_smaller.jpg" /> <img width="4886" height="3517" width_o="4886" height_o="3517" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/561a61742d098deec19f75801d7af6d86f0cbd27828e9457d628b35045c9f905/VS_3634A_smaller.jpg" data-mid="173429687" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/561a61742d098deec19f75801d7af6d86f0cbd27828e9457d628b35045c9f905/VS_3634A_smaller.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4936" width_o="4200" height_o="4936" data-src="//freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e5015db8519ade45c0e2256df34153f3c3ed060ae0174ada802298ecd68424ea/VV_6475.jpg" data-mid="138880041" border="0" style="width: 247.97997px; height: 340.008092px; display: none;" data-scale="36"> Letterpress Mural Acrylic Paint &nbsp; Artist Publication Risography on&nbsp; Neenah Epic Black Smooth Paper 11” x 17” Edition of 100 “Mi Igramo Nogomet, Nogomet Igra Nas!” Eng. “We Play Football; Football Plays Us!” Public Works Gallery in Chicago approached me in the winter of 2022 with an interest in commissioning new artwork for their exhibit “Fútbol is Life.” I was intrigued by the cultural implications of this exhibition with a critical view of soccer culture. Soccer plays a pivotal role in enacting national identity, as I experienced growing up in Croatia in the 1990s during the breakup of Yugoslavia. The world’s most popular sport is famously theatrical. In international matches, spectators participate in the tragic defeats and glorious victories of their nations. The nationalist undertones of football fandom have been known to turn violent. The game is not only defined by us; as we get swept up in the hype, we change, and the game can grow to define us. Based on my conversations with curator Nick Butcher, I wrote an artist publication about my relationship with soccer. I began to draft ideas for a large-scale work incorporating renderings of letterpress-printed typographic forms. I translated my printing experimentations to sign painting, a medium that evokes the street culture and historical renderings of mass messaging in open spaces. Visiting the language of identity formation, I engaged with the slogan “We Build The Tracks, The Tracks Build Us!” This slogan was used during youth railroad-tracks-building work actions to evoke a sense of federal pride. It became synonymous with the sloganeering culture in former Yugoslavia. Today the words recall another time that reverberates with the present. The strong push and pull between national identities continue to be a defining feature of the region and can be experienced through sport. Appropriating the slogan, I printed the words using hand-brayered wood type and then used acrylic paint to meticulously paint the printed type at a large scale in the gallery space. By hand painting the type, I preserved the unique qualities of individual letterforms and the organic qualities of line work. The artist publication is displayed hanging to the left of the mural. The resulting large-scale installation evokes the slogans of a country that no longer exists, once a home of theatrical soccer matches that eventually erupted in violence, foreshadowing the war that was to follow.&nbsp;The installation is accompanied by a risograph printed broadside (click here to read the broadside essay). December 2022 - February 2023Photos by Tom Van Eynde https://vidasacic.net/You-Are-Here-Where Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:45:57 +0000 Vida Sacic https://vidasacic.net/You-Are-Here-Where <img width="2400" height="1619" width_o="2400" height_o="1619" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9cd2436b2363bf76507e7f98399df4b0f63599bc06b6521feec0685b0cdfa40c/Flexspace_Install_2.jpg" data-mid="209332226" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9cd2436b2363bf76507e7f98399df4b0f63599bc06b6521feec0685b0cdfa40c/Flexspace_Install_2.jpg" /> <img width="2400" height="1780" width_o="2400" height_o="1780" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/894f500d3e74b3f2b89922871438d52d6347f1093fc4b34d00de0f30f5a183c5/Flexspace_Install_1.jpg" data-mid="209332171" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/894f500d3e74b3f2b89922871438d52d6347f1093fc4b34d00de0f30f5a183c5/Flexspace_Install_1.jpg" /> Letterpress printMohawk Chromolux paper Letterpress print Stonehenge paper WoodRisography Neenah Epic Black MylarArtist Publication Risography on Neenah Epic Black Smooth Paper11” x 17” edition of 100 “Tu Si, Gdje?” Eng. “You Are Here, Where?” As a person who lives in a country different to my country of origin, I find my day punctuated with correspondence and contact with another place. This inhabiting of different worlds in parallel means that I am balancing two realities and a seven hour time difference. The necessary negotiation is a universal experience for those of us with diasporic identities. Diasporic communities in countries often form to substitute the idea of “home,” that which provides parameters for identity for us all. The tension inherent in transnationalism and the necessary communication in the context of globalization encapsulates the experience of being global. As continued contact via technology provides a sense of simultaneity between places it also creates new cultural meanings. In this site-specific installation created for the Flexspace gallery, I built the environment to function as a storytelling space reflecting the diasporic dialogues through time. Multiple works on paper interact to create a linguistic space of exchange. The language used is sourced from letters that America immigrants wrote to their families abroad between year 1860 and 1950. This correspondence is now a part of the permanent archive at University of Minnesota. The language reflects contemporary immigrant concerns, as well as the darkness, humor and the immigrant experience. One of the works (#5) is incorporates my personal correspondence.I shared some of my findings and correspondence with my community and my students. Because I teach in an HSI Hispanic-serving institution with a large immigrant population from all over the world, I often share my students' life experiences. While talking to these young artists, I realized we all have saved examples of such correspondence. My students shared theirs with me. I also used their contributions in this work and created it in a community with these young artists. The installation is accompanied by a risograph printed broadside discussing the works in more detail&nbsp;(click here to read the broadside essay). All works were created during my residency at Flexspace Gallery at Riverside Arts Center.&nbsp;March 2024 <img width="1804" height="2400" width_o="1804" height_o="2400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a359db5e346c924fe1a2e8fd6a60294f064b2379cb4d317ff79b955685f24515/Tu_Si_Gdje.jpg" data-mid="209335008" border="0" alt="1" data-caption="1" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a359db5e346c924fe1a2e8fd6a60294f064b2379cb4d317ff79b955685f24515/Tu_Si_Gdje.jpg" /> <img width="1800" height="2400" width_o="1800" height_o="2400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a167e173c4d219880a5d325f21e623655e674312281e81ee103b4fde3bdae461/We_Are_Patiently.jpg" data-mid="209333659" border="0" alt="2" data-caption="2" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a167e173c4d219880a5d325f21e623655e674312281e81ee103b4fde3bdae461/We_Are_Patiently.jpg" /> <img width="2250" height="2400" width_o="2250" height_o="2400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f0c05e739aaf9407a07b54e3584551361ce66bda80dee182b23a12ad9b29c459/We_Are_Glad_You.jpg" data-mid="209333649" border="0" alt="3" data-caption="3" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f0c05e739aaf9407a07b54e3584551361ce66bda80dee182b23a12ad9b29c459/We_Are_Glad_You.jpg" /> <img width="2400" height="1917" width_o="2400" height_o="1917" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6e06cacb2782c96b25d795517d882c4833c081775956425bfe6c23f9738fb05d/There_Is_No_News.jpg" data-mid="209333635" border="0" alt="4" data-caption="4" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6e06cacb2782c96b25d795517d882c4833c081775956425bfe6c23f9738fb05d/There_Is_No_News.jpg" /> <img width="1548" height="2400" width_o="1548" height_o="2400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bdc3cd8d6789a01ec7eecd1ab263605d6db46450eeaec9f8e09d5f5d7270c4d4/Ghosts.jpg" data-mid="209333633" border="0" alt="5" data-caption="5" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bdc3cd8d6789a01ec7eecd1ab263605d6db46450eeaec9f8e09d5f5d7270c4d4/Ghosts.jpg" /> <img width="2400" height="1847" width_o="2400" height_o="1847" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bedb3bd0994f8ab11dc086c1049551970a5b562f4a4dd567d5bd9532a97d4ce6/But_How.jpg" data-mid="209333622" border="0" alt="6" data-caption="6" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bedb3bd0994f8ab11dc086c1049551970a5b562f4a4dd567d5bd9532a97d4ce6/But_How.jpg" /> <img width="1793" height="2400" width_o="1793" height_o="2400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2295941da306dea88e39dfba5455e8955f4d420c890b126b93d9ada28572fb79/Protest_Sign_-1.jpg" data-mid="209333433" border="0" alt="7" data-caption="7" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2295941da306dea88e39dfba5455e8955f4d420c890b126b93d9ada28572fb79/Protest_Sign_-1.jpg" /> <img width="1800" height="2400" width_o="1800" height_o="2400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7221c669a85cc38fb4a8e8b3238aaaaa81268c031e103b385d9a8ffec0bdf7a3/Protest_Sign_-2.jpg" data-mid="209334656" border="0" alt="8" data-caption="8" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7221c669a85cc38fb4a8e8b3238aaaaa81268c031e103b385d9a8ffec0bdf7a3/Protest_Sign_-2.jpg" /> https://vidasacic.net/Wavelength Tue, 13 Aug 2024 20:59:51 +0000 Vida Sacic https://vidasacic.net/Wavelength <img width="3000" height="1926" width_o="3000" height_o="1926" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/81b9eac8457310de4bf2a67dd97c3573756aaa94146d8547ebd5c23bbedc04e7/Flora_doc.jpg" data-mid="216318511" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/81b9eac8457310de4bf2a67dd97c3573756aaa94146d8547ebd5c23bbedc04e7/Flora_doc.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1280" width_o="1920" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/84a106192caefc7f7459bbad5f4f3e7045578a4c98783b817bc03e0ffe7a9a97/wavelength2.jpg" data-mid="216318535" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/84a106192caefc7f7459bbad5f4f3e7045578a4c98783b817bc03e0ffe7a9a97/wavelength2.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1280" width_o="1920" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4fbc3817dac56b073ecbc626a92e6e101439e0a43c0dc0bc38a491bea3bc97a3/on_the_record.jpg" data-mid="216319516" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4fbc3817dac56b073ecbc626a92e6e101439e0a43c0dc0bc38a491bea3bc97a3/on_the_record.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1280" width_o="1920" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7e2a850bd966e50d819d11054c62491f190250184f16761ef4a6ec5c54663f42/lift.jpg" data-mid="216320143" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7e2a850bd966e50d819d11054c62491f190250184f16761ef4a6ec5c54663f42/lift.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1280" width_o="1920" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/61822ca66bad60acc42078ec372838c19dff2b9a89e2feaf7fa7fbb9e8b3720d/lift2.jpg" data-mid="216320142" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/61822ca66bad60acc42078ec372838c19dff2b9a89e2feaf7fa7fbb9e8b3720d/lift2.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1280" width_o="1920" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/eada4e981793309d31f207fb2efab9c812eb575e06c98c933e501f86579a5099/assemblages.jpg" data-mid="216319519" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/eada4e981793309d31f207fb2efab9c812eb575e06c98c933e501f86579a5099/assemblages.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1172" width_o="1920" height_o="1172" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ae808a80e6cc52bd6325b02c997f4905ac0a8674414fb92f6bebc5f6b0f6a1b2/hesitency.jpg" data-mid="216319904" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ae808a80e6cc52bd6325b02c997f4905ac0a8674414fb92f6bebc5f6b0f6a1b2/hesitency.jpg" /> <img width="1869" height="1280" width_o="1869" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dc86951ea10176a8119b34735ae679deb678dd8d2c7bb383b5e02d6c8540a1c7/wavelength_test.jpg" data-mid="216318802" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dc86951ea10176a8119b34735ae679deb678dd8d2c7bb383b5e02d6c8540a1c7/wavelength_test.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4936" width_o="4200" height_o="4936" data-src="//freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e5015db8519ade45c0e2256df34153f3c3ed060ae0174ada802298ecd68424ea/VV_6475.jpg" data-mid="138880041" border="0" style="width: 308.895597px; height: 423.530185px; display: none;" data-scale="36"> Letterpress Risography Serigraphy Variable sizes “Valna Duljina” Eng. “Wavelength”This site-specific installation was produced as a part of a solo exhibition by the same name at Gallery Flora in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Text from the exhibition catalogue The exhibition "Wavelength," showcased at Flora Gallery in Dubrovnik, explores identity within the community through my works on paper, in which I have often explored themes of gender, labor, and the immigrant experience in the United States. My journey began in 1998 when I moved alone from Croatia to the American Midwest, a pivotal transition for me as a teenager that profoundly shaped my life and artistic practice. In my work, I employ typography to challenge language's conventional meanings. I meticulously craft each piece using my Vendercook printing press and moveable type. Creating these prints is not merely a technical exercise but a deliberate engagement with historical narratives and the tools used to produce them through personal reflections that often elude established records. My past sources have mostly been carefully selected historical narratives that have escaped traditional archives. However, in this exhibition, I focused on my contemporaries. Designed specifically for the Flora Gallery, the exhibition unfolds as a site-specific installation where each print is conceived as a unique component contributing to a larger narrative. Some prints feature my own writings, hand-set in small metal type. However, the majority of the prints feature large wood-type impressions of conversations gathered through studio visits with contemporary Chicago artists whose voices are elevated to be included in the exhibition space. As the editor and printer of the work, my role looms over the content. All of the conversations were conducted in May and June of 2024. By undertaking the process of gathering, selecting, and hand-printing fragments from conversations, I question representation and the potential for distortion, courting oversimplification while embracing absurdity. The informality of the studio visits with the artists was integral to the work as we connected through both humor and meaningful dialogues. Engaging in candid conversations, I captured moments and insights in handwritten notes and covert photographs taken with my phone. I often found myself on the same wavelength with whom I spoke, only to lose that connection and work again to reestablish it. That process became a part of my project and something I am looking to extend to the audience as they engage with the work. Selecting words and phrases from these interactions, I incorporated them into my prints using moveable wood type, creating a visual tapestry that visually unifies the perspectives. However, when one engages with reading, the unity falls into question as the words open space for more questioning than explanations.&nbsp; Through these intentional acts of dialogue-building with the audience, I sought to bridge geographical distances and forge tangible connections between artists and audiences. Exhibiting prints on paper affirms their existence as objects and insists on physicality and tactile engagement, underscoring the transformative potential of personal interactions, particularly in an era dominated by digital communication. Despite the logistical challenges posed by the pandemic, which underscored the fragility of conventional archival practices and heightened our reliance on digital mediums, my project reimagines the art of documentation through intimate, face-to-face engagements. This approach emphasizes the continued importance of building personal understandings across diverse backgrounds and locales. The resulting interactions offer a possibility for the establishment of deeper connections between the artistic communities involved as well as their audiences. Participating artists: - Hale Ekinci - Yoonshin Park - Jaclyn Jacunski - Dushko Petrovich - Kushala Vora - Michelle Marie Murphy (MMM) - Sonya Bogdanova - Millicent Kennedy - Latam Zearfoss - Joshua Taylor - Charles Ryan Long - Aya Nakamura - Kristin Abhalter Smith - Tulika Ladsariya July 2024Photos by Stijepo Brbora and Igor Brautović https://vidasacic.net/Automation-of-Her Thu, 06 Apr 2023 00:44:35 +0000 Vida Sacic https://vidasacic.net/Automation-of-Her <img width="3024" height="2367" width_o="3024" height_o="2367" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/166328b2ad1bc1609885d95c7a20ccf05ef2aac450302ca42f82baebc6ef7ecc/typographical_union_square_cropped.jpg" data-mid="174405950" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/166328b2ad1bc1609885d95c7a20ccf05ef2aac450302ca42f82baebc6ef7ecc/typographical_union_square_cropped.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="2420" width_o="3024" height_o="2420" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4258db18389ce725501bc69ef3e1b46598498a8b410b7b3c66fcebc2cef46b9d/Automation_of_her_process.jpg" data-mid="174519649" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4258db18389ce725501bc69ef3e1b46598498a8b410b7b3c66fcebc2cef46b9d/Automation_of_her_process.jpg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c72fb18aaba10246fd07424563a8355194f23f29d52122d0e1c5a683fac86995/Automation_of_her_wood_type.jpg" data-mid="174519643" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c72fb18aaba10246fd07424563a8355194f23f29d52122d0e1c5a683fac86995/Automation_of_her_wood_type.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4936" width_o="4200" height_o="4936" data-src="//freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e5015db8519ade45c0e2256df34153f3c3ed060ae0174ada802298ecd68424ea/VV_6475.jpg" data-mid="138880041" border="0" style="width: 209.00975406646728px; height: 286.57559613113403px; display: none;" data-scale="36"> Letterpress print on French Pop-Tone Paper 51” (H) X 77”(W) An Automation Of Her This large-scale installation was produced in response to my research on the role of women in labor history. The impact of women on this sphere, especially in the printing trade, is often missing from textbooks and historical accounts. The International Typographical Union was one of the first unions to admit female members in 1869, creating various tensions. Most historians who acknowledge women typographers cite their contributions in relation to men, with arguments raised against the employment of women and the threat women represented to male typesetters. In her 1980 article “Neither Printer's Wife nor Widow: American Women in Typesetting, 1830-1950,” author Mary Biggs focuses on women employed as typesetters in printing offices where they had no family connections. Among other things, the article lists Samuel B. Donnelly's 1899 testimony before the Industrial Commission, where he claimed that in Boston, although master printers employed as many women as they could find, they limited their advancement and controlled their female employees to "keep a woman on straight composition, to make as much as possible an automaton of her." I was struck by Donnelly’s words, yet again testifying to the persistent cultural need for control of women and their laboring bodies. The 19th-century rhetoric, dehumanization, and distortion of facts to play up emotion and manipulate women reverberate today. Notably, women’s work today is highly limited through that other activity the word “labor” denotes–childbirth. At a time when state control is enforced through the reversal of Roe v Wade (in most cases without rape exceptions), it would not be a stretch to say that those of us who can give birth are effectively legislatively colonized by the state, automating the body to produce its subjects. The 42 letter-sized panels that make this installation are imprinted with brass-inked words set in wood type. Using my Vandercook #4 printing press, I printed Donnelly’s words in multiples. The words are overprinted with organic and geometric abstract shapes. The abstract additions cancel out the automated action of printing the same words with rigidity. Instead, they create an organic pattern that overlays are redirects the eye as it moves across the assembled panels, now joined to create one large and dynamic composition. January - March 2023 https://vidasacic.net/Kolo-Okolo Thu, 06 Apr 2023 22:34:02 +0000 Vida Sacic https://vidasacic.net/Kolo-Okolo <img width="2768" height="1725" width_o="2768" height_o="1725" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c575207a95a9d361e68cc2ee93d33413e2a16d2b38e601b8905374c6658747d5/kolo_okolo_install-copy2.jpg" data-mid="174533706" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c575207a95a9d361e68cc2ee93d33413e2a16d2b38e601b8905374c6658747d5/kolo_okolo_install-copy2.jpg" /> <img width="1226" height="1832" width_o="1226" height_o="1832" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4781c3cbe6ec8f02beb044433c1e8fc2bcfe0559ea4df276226d3ef00ac6f22e/KOLO2.jpg" data-mid="174525423" border="0" alt="kolo, 40x58 in" data-caption="kolo, 40x58 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4781c3cbe6ec8f02beb044433c1e8fc2bcfe0559ea4df276226d3ef00ac6f22e/KOLO2.jpg" /> <img width="1226" height="1832" width_o="1226" height_o="1832" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6c35fb9314dc175eb0f44b18f02681a8ba8c362ce1754dd71100376f4b39289f/OKOLO-copy2.jpg" data-mid="174525422" border="0" alt="okolo, 40x58 in" data-caption="okolo, 40x58 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6c35fb9314dc175eb0f44b18f02681a8ba8c362ce1754dd71100376f4b39289f/OKOLO-copy2.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4936" width_o="4200" height_o="4936" data-src="//freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e5015db8519ade45c0e2256df34153f3c3ed060ae0174ada802298ecd68424ea/VV_6475.jpg" data-mid="138880041" border="0" style="width: 281.32604427337645px; height: 385.7292651481628px; display: none;" data-scale="36"> Letterpress Wood type Edition of 3 each Kolo Okolo Kolo: Eng. a Slavic dance performed in a circle. Okolo: BCS languages: Around In the spring of 2022, I visited Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum to produce work using their wood type collection. For many years, I have been visiting this working museum in Wisconsin at the historic location of the most significant American factory that produced printing type. Their collection includes typographic printing plates used to print communication materials in the 19th and 20th-century. The pre-digital marvel is now a world-known museum that boasts the most extensive collection of historic wood type in the United States—and one of the biggest in the world. Working at the museum, I met retired workers from the factory and their families. Spending time surrounded by the factory equipment and tools, I immersed myself in its history. The fascinating history of Hamilton, founded in 1880 and initially called J.E. Hamilton Holly Wood Type Company, parallels the rise and fall of manufacturing in the United States. The extensive collection at Hamilton now includes some of the most significant wood type available to print. I was drawn to these letterforms and decided to work with large typographic printing plates. I returned to the museum on several occasions to produce two projects, each composed of multiple prints printed in an edition of three to five. Physically demanding to print, the prints were to be displayed in sequence. My heightened body awareness while producing large format prints created a somatic release. I often likened moving with a printing press to a dance. In the first two prints I printed at Hamilton, the words printed evoked a traditional, collective Balkan folk dance. A kolo dance is performed by multiple dancers interlinked to form a chain, moving in a circle while holding hands. This collective dance is often accompanied only by singing and rhythmic stomping of the performers. It is self-perpetuating and not dependent on external musical cues. My interest in movement and the body as a site of both memory and overcoming the past led me to consider the somatic healing properties of this ancient ancestral expression. When printing, my rhythmic, repetitive motions linked me through time to those who used the tools in the past. The movements felt both like a homecoming and a license to reimagine the usage of the tools at hand. March 2022 https://vidasacic.net/IDTCB Sun, 19 Oct 2025 22:59:12 +0000 Vida Sacic https://vidasacic.net/IDTCB <img width="5712" height="4284" width_o="5712" height_o="4284" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a3030fa067d8ecc387d773a204d9c3c52bf6010efd94fe73e515391cfa63ffec/Lazareti2.jpg" data-mid="239558050" border="0" alt="test" data-caption="test" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a3030fa067d8ecc387d773a204d9c3c52bf6010efd94fe73e515391cfa63ffec/Lazareti2.jpg" /><img width="5712" height="4284" width_o="5712" height_o="4284" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d274e8ab796304aa6de5f2b1191109f07787fd2e6452e0c82c7df58d27b9e305/Lazareti1.jpg" data-mid="239558048" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d274e8ab796304aa6de5f2b1191109f07787fd2e6452e0c82c7df58d27b9e305/Lazareti1.jpg" /> <img width="1872" height="1296" width_o="1872" height_o="1296" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a83b74f404e7d076a437cd1b53cfcea92e2f6daa2e908bdd359bf1533964471c/book.jpg" data-mid="239557928" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a83b74f404e7d076a437cd1b53cfcea92e2f6daa2e908bdd359bf1533964471c/book.jpg" /> <img width="2222" height="1536" width_o="2222" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/59e44c7cdf6dc5dd8430c8dad49f60fe4d3092adeebefb86eb74e49de0c1f983/Screenshot-2025-03-15-at-10.51.58AM.png" data-mid="239557925" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/59e44c7cdf6dc5dd8430c8dad49f60fe4d3092adeebefb86eb74e49de0c1f983/Screenshot-2025-03-15-at-10.51.58AM.png" /> <img width="3600" height="4936" width_o="4200" height_o="4936" data-src="//freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e5015db8519ade45c0e2256df34153f3c3ed060ae0174ada802298ecd68424ea/VV_6475.jpg" data-mid="138880041" border="0" style="width: 240.591033px; height: 329.877039px; display: none;" data-scale="36"> Letterpress Wood type Digital printing Artist Book Edition of 75 I (Don’t) Intend To Come Back (IDTCB) Artist book and exhibition Art Workshop Lazareti, Dubrovnik / Chicago I (Don’t) Intend To Come Back explores themes of return, identity, and place through the lens of migration. Commissioned by Art Workshop Lazareti in Dubrovnik and developed between Croatia and the United States, the project reflects on personal and collective experiences of belonging across borders. At its core is a question posed by the artist to emigrant artists and cultural workers from Croatia and neighboring countries: “Do you intend to return?” Their varied and often ambivalent responses appear in the book as typographic compositions, created with historic wood type from a 20th-century printing office in Varaždin. Printed and designed in Chicago, the book combines hand-set letterpress fragments with digitally typeset pages derived from scanned impressions, preserving the tactile traces of the printing process. Through this layering, I (Don’t) Intend To Come Back becomes a living archive—linking diasporic voices and renewing connections between artists, language, and place. July 2025 https://vidasacic.net/Electric-Biology Fri, 22 Apr 2022 15:15:32 +0000 Vida Sacic https://vidasacic.net/Electric-Biology <img width="3600" height="4936" width_o="3600" height_o="4936" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9db20da93e411ee9be33e3614ab759aca23661eafdd99d0ed674c9b74cd3d80f/VV_6483.jpg" data-mid="140387818" border="0" alt="#33, 13x19 in" data-caption="#33, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9db20da93e411ee9be33e3614ab759aca23661eafdd99d0ed674c9b74cd3d80f/VV_6483.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4936" width_o="3600" height_o="4936" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cf22ca4880bd5808fba251c900a829e1ae3a201d61c811fb3ea70aebd6e8b842/VV_6480.jpg" data-mid="140387814" border="0" alt="#46, 13x19 in" data-caption="#46, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cf22ca4880bd5808fba251c900a829e1ae3a201d61c811fb3ea70aebd6e8b842/VV_6480.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4936" width_o="3600" height_o="4936" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bf271c37d3ea19af09217ee9e7a2eaf5c25dc4f5ce5233db5d2fc7a989346d3e/VV_6475.jpg" data-mid="140387810" border="0" alt="#40, 13x19 in" data-caption="#40, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bf271c37d3ea19af09217ee9e7a2eaf5c25dc4f5ce5233db5d2fc7a989346d3e/VV_6475.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4936" width_o="3600" height_o="4936" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6e11a600ebca4e78d39bdba9304670db5b51fd90b9e78d23c2babf44e914cae8/VV_6478.jpg" data-mid="140387813" border="0" alt="#37, 13x19 in" data-caption="#37, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6e11a600ebca4e78d39bdba9304670db5b51fd90b9e78d23c2babf44e914cae8/VV_6478.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4922" width_o="3600" height_o="4922" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2db80274eda27c9a3a5683ef90a73b2e42723b7ad94d6556c4cd094967be4c4f/VV_6474.jpg" data-mid="140387809" border="0" alt="#31, 13x19 in" data-caption="#31, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2db80274eda27c9a3a5683ef90a73b2e42723b7ad94d6556c4cd094967be4c4f/VV_6474.jpg" /> <img width="3360" height="4607" width_o="3360" height_o="4607" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5c9cec1d6cc4b39399ec3ec2d52e195e034c3147ea7e8736a9a1097b11bc9c46/VV_6477.jpg" data-mid="140387812" border="0" alt="#48, 13x19 in" data-caption="#48, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5c9cec1d6cc4b39399ec3ec2d52e195e034c3147ea7e8736a9a1097b11bc9c46/VV_6477.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4922" width_o="3600" height_o="4922" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/75dabcea3a77de6ef4a491ab35b3a4f52156e476fc305dc1f0f55ef67fc5dc1a/VV_6476.jpg" data-mid="140387811" border="0" alt="#36, 13x19 in" data-caption="#36, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/75dabcea3a77de6ef4a491ab35b3a4f52156e476fc305dc1f0f55ef67fc5dc1a/VV_6476.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4973" width_o="3600" height_o="4973" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/486564f632262ea6eb641a19d23717032e876ab1c3da63160f724ac35ac5ceaa/VV_6485.jpg" data-mid="140387822" border="0" alt="#39, 13x19 in" data-caption="#39, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/486564f632262ea6eb641a19d23717032e876ab1c3da63160f724ac35ac5ceaa/VV_6485.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4973" width_o="3600" height_o="4973" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e0b19286d0ba9cc0a89c9feff285a3f2bf1f0b4a85a72863c40efee69566a322/VV_6484.jpg" data-mid="140387820" border="0" alt="#44, 13x19 in" data-caption="#44, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e0b19286d0ba9cc0a89c9feff285a3f2bf1f0b4a85a72863c40efee69566a322/VV_6484.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4973" width_o="3600" height_o="4973" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1ee3be98c01c4a4c5bb09b77f5863184b3f242c96c445aaece3f0451c2c47ef2/VV_6489.jpg" data-mid="140387824" border="0" alt="#47, 13x19 in" data-caption="#47, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1ee3be98c01c4a4c5bb09b77f5863184b3f242c96c445aaece3f0451c2c47ef2/VV_6489.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4973" width_o="3600" height_o="4973" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/48c1f05082898922fa9869988840b2e586ef5680ec26936febfde36ce5f194a0/VV_6488.jpg" data-mid="140387825" border="0" alt="#01, 13x19 in" data-caption="#01, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/48c1f05082898922fa9869988840b2e586ef5680ec26936febfde36ce5f194a0/VV_6488.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4973" width_o="3600" height_o="4973" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/375baccb9a905f091e71a24dc965f4b497db407bc5daf08cca8a2348e1662f22/VV_6490.jpg" data-mid="140387823" border="0" alt="#38, 13x19 in" data-caption="#38, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/375baccb9a905f091e71a24dc965f4b497db407bc5daf08cca8a2348e1662f22/VV_6490.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4936" width_o="3600" height_o="4936" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ca4662023d92b94601aae2317c813695ce1129faae1090fe1eb73fd3efd98d9b/VV_6493.jpg" data-mid="140387828" border="0" alt="#20, 13x19 in" data-caption="#20, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ca4662023d92b94601aae2317c813695ce1129faae1090fe1eb73fd3efd98d9b/VV_6493.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4973" width_o="3600" height_o="4973" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a2a9941ef0fe392b21c31b9e1c6d0699c8541ea7c325170703c802c0e96aaa84/VV_6494.jpg" data-mid="140387829" border="0" alt="#42, 13x19 in" data-caption="#42, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a2a9941ef0fe392b21c31b9e1c6d0699c8541ea7c325170703c802c0e96aaa84/VV_6494.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4922" width_o="3600" height_o="4922" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cee1c73262b7e7d6f83c6ae931572c5418f3b35c3f4be448c19796a222898fc8/VV_6495.jpg" data-mid="140387830" border="0" alt="#00, 13x19 in" data-caption="#00, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cee1c73262b7e7d6f83c6ae931572c5418f3b35c3f4be448c19796a222898fc8/VV_6495.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4973" width_o="3600" height_o="4973" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/adc4ff7ecfcba1143f68db2ad382d04c9fe9793a1c4b0212185f1559a0c9941a/VV_6492.jpg" data-mid="140387827" border="0" alt="#36, 13x19 in" data-caption="#36, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/adc4ff7ecfcba1143f68db2ad382d04c9fe9793a1c4b0212185f1559a0c9941a/VV_6492.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="5047" width_o="3600" height_o="5047" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/03d160f17d197e2134c1f84211de891178e5e4c677809946455ccd7b8f9989ee/VV_6497.jpg" data-mid="140387833" border="0" alt="#44, 13x19 in" data-caption="#44, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/03d160f17d197e2134c1f84211de891178e5e4c677809946455ccd7b8f9989ee/VV_6497.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4909" width_o="3600" height_o="4909" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e9b6f72aefa014e43058b941467d8c71e29e8a3a68472d5bdcf1077cdaf5ea12/VV_6498.jpg" data-mid="140387834" border="0" alt="#45, 13x19 in" data-caption="#45, 13x19 in" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e9b6f72aefa014e43058b941467d8c71e29e8a3a68472d5bdcf1077cdaf5ea12/VV_6498.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4936" width_o="4200" height_o="4936" data-src="//freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e5015db8519ade45c0e2256df34153f3c3ed060ae0174ada802298ecd68424ea/VV_6475.jpg" data-mid="138880041" border="0" style="width: 215.18533767700194px; height: 295.0430074371338px; display: none;" data-scale="36"> Letterpress Metal type Wood type Edition 5 - 10 Electric Biology is an ongoing series of works inspired by biological processes in the body and my experience living with a neurological condition. The visual abstractions in the series are inspired by the electrical impulses in the brain, whose activity governs behavior, language, and consciousness. The connection between these impulses and our cognition led me to work with pieces of language and explore fragmentation as a fundamental human condition. All prints are created in small editions using wood and metal type. I carefully curate the typographic collection and the printing plates in my studio. I also create my printing plates using discarded materials, cardboard, and duct tape. I print very delicate type next to duck-taped plates to create a dynamic and ethereal effect. The abstracted compositions include my writing, inspired by movement, migration, and immigration. I write in English and Croatian. The writing fragments speak to a loss and a redefinition of home in the context of body, place, and country. 2014 - present https://vidasacic.net/Ms-Olga-Typeface Sun, 29 Sep 2024 16:29:38 +0000 Vida Sacic https://vidasacic.net/Ms-Olga-Typeface <img width="1215" height="1888" width_o="1215" height_o="1888" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/45255509e01a2f05978faad93b6ee2799ba74367a30e78ade85bd73c4d5a5d43/Ms_Olga2.jpg" data-mid="218896392" border="0" alt="Type Specimen, 11&quot; x 17, serigraph (back)" data-caption="Type Specimen, 11&quot; x 17, serigraph (back)" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/45255509e01a2f05978faad93b6ee2799ba74367a30e78ade85bd73c4d5a5d43/Ms_Olga2.jpg" /> <img width="1215" height="1888" width_o="1215" height_o="1888" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7eabd91f5716efa3d352876ce45031ebc215b7f9d0e333f9ca0128af57e31152/Ms_Olga.jpg" data-mid="218896391" border="0" alt="Type Specimen, 11&quot; x 17, serigraph (front)" data-caption="Type Specimen, 11&quot; x 17, serigraph (front)" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7eabd91f5716efa3d352876ce45031ebc215b7f9d0e333f9ca0128af57e31152/Ms_Olga.jpg" /> <img width="652" height="1024" width_o="652" height_o="1024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7089764a7efa00168c9d05e2d4d442b02e96d1b0d893f495d06ef1120cbffd3f/205D136B-24A9-48C1-B618-D2C8D1D31F14_1_105_c.jpeg" data-mid="218897714" border="0" alt="Wood type, 20 line" data-caption="Wood type, 20 line" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/652/i/7089764a7efa00168c9d05e2d4d442b02e96d1b0d893f495d06ef1120cbffd3f/205D136B-24A9-48C1-B618-D2C8D1D31F14_1_105_c.jpeg" /> <img width="768" height="1024" width_o="768" height_o="1024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7c1e8803efcfa8a93b31de22dc2db5cfc52613a6623fada3a3f21128f826eed2/CCA9FED6-4A60-4F5E-A71E-FD2DD4546F70_1_105_c.jpeg" data-mid="218899432" border="0" alt="Type Specimen, 24&quot; x 32, letterpress" data-caption="Type Specimen, 24&quot; x 32, letterpress" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/768/i/7c1e8803efcfa8a93b31de22dc2db5cfc52613a6623fada3a3f21128f826eed2/CCA9FED6-4A60-4F5E-A71E-FD2DD4546F70_1_105_c.jpeg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9750616b5f08e72142734180b1aa36ee6912595023866a952b5334f1c0ac6857/IMG_0119.jpeg" data-mid="218897066" border="0" alt="Type Specimen, inkjet print" data-caption="Type Specimen, inkjet print" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9750616b5f08e72142734180b1aa36ee6912595023866a952b5334f1c0ac6857/IMG_0119.jpeg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/daa23be03abc5bd75f17f2b91b8bd43e62b0b2fdc5f93622b927af48222f48c7/IMG_0110.jpeg" data-mid="218897335" border="0" alt="Type Specimen, inkjet print" data-caption="Type Specimen, inkjet print" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/daa23be03abc5bd75f17f2b91b8bd43e62b0b2fdc5f93622b927af48222f48c7/IMG_0110.jpeg" /> <img width="3600" height="4936" width_o="4200" height_o="4936" data-src="//freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e5015db8519ade45c0e2256df34153f3c3ed060ae0174ada802298ecd68424ea/VV_6475.jpg" data-mid="138880041" border="0" style="width: 276.422047px; height: 379.00534px; display: none;" data-scale="36"> Digital type design Wood type production with Tiporenesansa Typographic specimens&nbsp; Inkjet Print Serigraph Letterpress Variable editions and sizes Ms. Olga typeface is a modernized version of Olga Höcker’s Yugoslav Script rendered as a display typeface. The resulting letterforms were rendered to be particularly suited for wood-type production. I saw the name Olga Höcker for the first time in the fall of 2016. I was looking at online design history sources and came across a new website, dizajnerice.com. This was the first database of 20th-century female designers working in former Yugoslavia. There has been almost no documentation of female practitioners in the region. Even in this context, Höcker stood out.&nbsp; Born in Varaždin, Olga Höcker was an internationally award-winning lettering artist, author, and the first female professor at the Art Academy in Zagreb, Croatia. Nonetheless, little documentation of Höcker's practice exists today. An article written in 2012 by the art historian Lovorka Magaš Bilandžić serves as the primary source of information on Höcker. In 2018, I acquired a 1951 edition of Höckers handbook on paleography, decorative writing, and ornamentation. It featured a variety of original designs, including Yugoslav Script. Höcker developed this exquisite lettering based on Glagolitic, Cyrillic, and Latin script features. Fascinated by the hand-lettered forms, I soon began to create digitally rendered drawings of the letters. I modernized and simplified the glyphs and imagined the typeface used in print as a display typeface. During most of Höcker's life, letters were rendered in print as type, using letterpress printing. While her work was used in various applications, Höcker’s lettering had never been cast in metal or cut out of wood as a complete font. In 2020, I completed the digital design of the font. I worked with a letterpress studio in Ljubljana, Slovenia, to create wood-type matrices based on my designs. Marko Drpic, the studio owner, cut the first production of 22-line Ms. Olga wood type using pear wood. The result is a beautifully rendered wood type that can be used for various applications. 2018 - 2021 https://vidasacic.net/Olga-triptych Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:12:24 +0000 Vida Sacic https://vidasacic.net/Olga-triptych <img width="1800" height="2550" width_o="1800" height_o="2550" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d7b4c50b7dad49790162db595f5172e90d1b352f7d4a03e45424d912fe870f5c/olga_triptych_2_web-copy.jpg" data-mid="203217577" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d7b4c50b7dad49790162db595f5172e90d1b352f7d4a03e45424d912fe870f5c/olga_triptych_2_web-copy.jpg" /> <img width="1800" height="2550" width_o="1800" height_o="2550" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f3d0461829cddfefb6873a6dc23c3bf8d2d9867a7c88649a9576f69e5b4831a9/olga_triptych_3_web-copy.jpg" data-mid="203217572" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f3d0461829cddfefb6873a6dc23c3bf8d2d9867a7c88649a9576f69e5b4831a9/olga_triptych_3_web-copy.jpg" /> <img width="1800" height="2550" width_o="1800" height_o="2550" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/db09a5c9b2664d4cebff7e4d7a2e7327f3b790242bd52fb9914931ac167d44a1/olga_triptych_1_web-copy.jpg" data-mid="203217570" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/db09a5c9b2664d4cebff7e4d7a2e7327f3b790242bd52fb9914931ac167d44a1/olga_triptych_1_web-copy.jpg" /> <img width="3600" height="4936" width_o="4200" height_o="4936" data-src="//freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e5015db8519ade45c0e2256df34153f3c3ed060ae0174ada802298ecd68424ea/VV_6475.jpg" data-mid="138880041" border="0" style="width: 434.823376px; height: 596.191162px; display: none;" data-scale="36"> LetterpressHandset metal typeWood typePrinter’s platesGamblin Relief Ink on Flurry Bright White paperEdition of 1212” x 18” Olga broadside prints form a triptych that captures Olga Höcker’s story to monumentalize her practice. I saw the name Olga Höcker for the first time in the fall of 2016 when I came across a database of 20th-century female designers working in former Yugoslavia, the website www.dizajnerice.com. Until then, there had been little documentation of female practitioners in the region. Höcker stood out to me as the only female typographer in the database. I was excited by this discovery because I had not known any 20th-century female typographers from the area. I was also intrigued to learn that she was born in Varaždin, Croatia, my birthplace. Among images of Höcker’s work, I found a picture of her hand-written biography from her application to the Croatian Association of Fine Artists and Applied Artists. While it was difficult to make out some words, I could read about her accomplishments in her own words. Olga Höcker was an internationally award-winning typographer and lettering artist, author, and the first female professor at the Art Academy in Zagreb, Croatia. Nonetheless, little documentation of Höcker's practice exists today. An article written in 2012 by the art historian Lovorka Magaš Bilandžić currently serves as the only academic source of information on Höcker. I continued my research while visiting Croatia. In 2018, I acquired a 1951 edition of Höckers handbook on paleography, decorative writing, and ornamentation. It featured a variety of original designs, including Yugoslav Script. Höcker developed this exquisite lettering based on the features of Glagolitic, Cyrillic, and Latin script, the three scripts used in the region. I was inspired by this work and created digitally rendered drawings of the letters. I modernized and simplified the glyphs and imagined the typeface used in print as a display typeface that I named Ms.Olga. This typeface is a modernized version of Höcker’s Yugoslav Script, rendered as a display typeface. My letterforms were rendered in such a way as to be particularly suited for wood-type production. In 2020, I began working with Tiporenesansa, a letterpress studio in Ljubljana, Slovenia, to create wood-type matrices based on my designs. Marko Drpić, the studio owner, cut the first production of 22-line Ms. Olga wood type using pear wood in the summer of 2021. The result is a beautifully rendered wood type that can be used for various applications. During most of Höcker's life, letters were rendered in print as type, using letterpress printing. While her work was used in various applications, Höcker’s lettering was never designed to be cast in metal or cut out of wood as a complete font. Similarly, her biography had never been printed. I wanted to change that. I worked on translating her hand-written biography into English. I deliberately included the gaps that made space for words that I couldn’t make out. Translation became essential to my relationship with Höcker. While translating, I kept a log of occasional mistranslations. I was interested in capturing her biography and the liminal state of silence that enveloped her life’s work, likely primarily due to her gender, as well as the turbulent political circumstances of her life and her legacy. I set the English translation of her hand-written biography in Century Expanded and Caslon metal type, setting one letter at a time and printing her words in three broadside compositions, each printed in an edition of 12 prints. I typeset and printed the text in three broadsides, printing them one at a time and spending hours on the composition, layout, and production of the prints. The investment of time and labor informed the composition of the work. These final three broadsides feature my English translation of Höcker’s biography, set in 10-pt, 11-pt, and 14-pt metal type. Printed next to Höcker’s biography are large, vibrant letters of my&nbsp; Ms. Olga typeface, printed using the 22-line wood type. This work is conceived as a celebration of Höcker’s legacy and a vehicle for documenting Höcker’s life and work in institutional archives. 2023