M E L I S S A     S T R A W S E R

Melissa Strawser, Printmaking Sculptress,

My current body of work has a philosophy behind what Bertoia loved most, where art meets science and the work happens. I'm a 30 year veteran to my artistry.  It intersects architectural geometry and deep geological time / memory and erosion.  By utilizing heavy bronze plates, the process of hand-incising, deep-biting transforming baths, where hand-wiping the matrix becomes an intrinsic extension of the narrative itself. The unique physics of bronze alters how ink pools and transfers under the extreme pressure of my press, resulting in prints characterized by velvety, saturated blacks and incredibly fine, structural embossments.

For three decades, my artistic practice has been anchored in the physical and alchemy thresholds of intaglio printmaking, something I've coined as 'Intaglio Sculpture' specifically through the demanding medium of bronze plate matrixes. While traditional copper plate etching offers a responsive, known pathway, my decades-long engagement with bronze focuses on the metal’s inherent physical resistance. This resistance demands a deliberate, forceful mastery of the line and grants an unparalleled, rich tonal depth that can only be achieved through a highly disciplined, slow dialogue with the material.

At a time when printmaking increasingly interfaces with rapid digital reproduction, my tradtional  perspective treats the print shop as a site of rigorous physical fabrication.  Every pull is a testament to time, tension, and a profound reverence for the alchemy between metal and paper.  I run a Rembrandt Pelican Press and soon to arrive Studio Strawser, a Ledeuil Paris Workshop Press for Gong Printing.

For more info about our studio practices, I invite you to join my monthly studio news for exclusive evites and special events with us.

OUR GONG~PRINT TALK

Click Photo to Watch our VIDEO

 BERTOIA STUDIO

Studio Strawser, Bertoia Studio, Val Bertoia, Melissa Strawser, Etching Bertoia Gongs, Intaglio Sculpture, Metal Works on Paper

STUDIO PRACTICE

Sculptor of Sound, Val Bertoia, studied engineering at Indiana Institute of Technology before apprenticing in Sculpture with his father for 6 years at Bertoia Studio.  Designing Chairs for Knoll, Monoprints, Jewelry and Bertoia Sculptures all came from his original Bally, Pennsylvania, studio, starting in 1952.  By the 1960s, from models both small and monumental in welded sculptural forms were then created here.  In the 1960s, all genres continued to be made and the sound sculpting was discovered in 1968 using gongs and rod sounds.   In the 1970s, Val learned his craft well from his metalworking position alongside his father, iconic, masterful, Harry Bertoia.  Val's artwork continued after 1978, in the same Bertoia Studio we work in today.  His works are found in many private collections, institutions, galleries, auction houses, schools and businesses.   In the Sonambient Barn, Val will ask, 'Do you have a favorite?' and his answer always the same, 'My favorite is people, because without people, the sculptures are worthless.'  Collaborating with Strawser came out of a 30 year studio partnering.  In 2017, he asked her to etch a large sounding bronze gong he designed for sound; their experimentation opened a new way to join audible and visual and we continue generational artistry in a new way.
  
Bertoia Jr. Dandelion gong print collaboration is a sister impression artist proof that started as an audible and visual diptych.  To honor the unrepeatable alchemy of the studio, each work is offered as a unified diptych pairing the original bronze gong with its primary print pull. A limited selection of three highly individual Artist Proofs accompanies each plate, capturing the progressive evolution of a matrix that is as much an instrument of sound as it is an instrument of sight.

Melissa Strawser was born in Reading, PA and raised in one family setting of folk artists.  Generational fine artist and master intaglio printmaker with over thirty years of dedicated studio practice.  She earned her Master of Art in Printmaking from the prestigious Slade School of Art at University College London (1995), studying under legendary figures Bartolomeu Cid dos Santos and Stanley Jones, alongside experimental training with Robert Blackburn. Her career spans significant international engagement, including residency at the Tavira Print Workshop in Portugal, over a decade of elite gallery representation by Galerie Wildeshausen in Germany (2000–2010), and major stateside inclusion with the McGavin Gallery in Houston, Texas. Renowned for bridging master craft with experimental sculpture, Strawser’s signature Gong Prints expand the boundaries of contemporary printmaking into the realm of sonics, architecture, and structural resonance.  Her work is held widely in prestigious private collections across the globe.
Melissa Strawser, Intaglio Sculpture, Bertoia Gongs, Metal Works on Paper, Pennsylvania Artists, Etching Bertoia Gongs, Intaglio Sculpture, Bertoia Sounding Gongs,
Melissa Strawser, Intaglio Sculpture, Bertoia Gongs, Metal Works on Paper, Pennsylvania Artists

LIMITED COLLECTIBLES
gong print diptychs 
sister impressions 
ARTIST PROOFS
BERTOIA-STRAWSER
serial-numbered
VB-0000~MS-0000

Melissa Strawser, Intaglio Print Sculptress, 4th Generation
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Bally, Pennsylvania 19503-0186 USA