Bio
Wendi Dibbern is a printmaker based in Galena, IL. Inspired by vernacular landscape, folklore and her own cosmic contemplations, she transforms her original designs into colorful, richly detailed prints that have been described as "quaint and dream-like". Working in linoleum and woodblock, images are created from many separate blocks, all carved by hand. She then prints each block on her press transferring ink to paper, building layer upon layer to achieve the final result.
Wendi grew up in rural Northeast Kansas, and received her BFA in Printmaking from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2004. Her Studio, Quarry House Press, is located next to a historic limestone house in Galena, IL where she lives with her husband, Ben and is inspired by her feline muse, Blake.
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Artist Statement
Interplay of the natural world and human design is an endless source of fascination for me. Interior design, landscape and folklore are a few ways we manifest the relationship between the two. Our treatment of domesticated animals versus wild and farmed animals is another. Sometimes our ideals overlap with those of Nature and other times we are content to ignore the true effect we have on our surroundings. At what cost do we sustain these ways of life?
My work explores the connections and compromises that shape one’s social identity with that of the living world, while questioning the manner in which we exert control over the spaces we inhabit. Through the illustrative character of my images, I aim to explore both the good that comes from our actions and discover the unavoidable shadow created by our endeavors.
