Zack Smith Final Project

Hand Back The Keys (minus the final layer)

My project unconventionally involves crafts (I’m hoping this is okay, I decided to get creative) Because my medium is printmaking I thought I would let crafts inspire my print, as well as various dimensions of the history of the American craft history. 

My poster entitled “Hand Back the Keys” is a feminist comment on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (aka LDS or Mormon Church) history. It examines the patriarchal nature of the church organization and the history surrounding the church moving from a progressive organization, specifically in the area of women’s rights, to a less progressive organization. The purpose of this poster is to question the roles the church imposes on women.

This print has several textile influences that date back to the late 1800’s, 1930’s and 1940’s. This was my first time incorporating a textile into a print and I really like how it turned out.  For starters you will notice the base of the print is a handkerchief.  Several details of the poster (the all seeing eye and the banners) were influenced by banners originally used by the early women’s organization of the church. In addition, a picture of a crown from the 1940's inspired my design. 

I was surprised by how long this project took me. I spent over 15  hours researching and sorting through the church archives. It was a pretty cool process as I had access to the original photos. I then spent 4 days making the print with a buddy who acted as an assistant. Not to mention the time I took to design the image (30 plus hours)…and it’s not even finished (I have one more layer to go). 

Beyond using textiles as part of my work I kind of went out on a limb by questioning some things seen as the norm in the religion I participate in. Throughout the readings, as I have mentioned before, I found myself being most inspired by the work that aimed to communicate or comment on the current political or social climate. I aim to do this via this poster. 

My take away was that I feel like I have found my medium. I’ve often felt like I didn’t have the voice to communicate my opinions. This now gives me my voice in a way that feels authentic to me. I also think that this made me interested in using textiles in my future work and really got me thinking of how I could use other mediums to influence my work. 

I’ve included pictures of my almost final work, inspiration pictures, and a little bit of the process. Also, I printed on a few different types and colors of paper which is why each layer looks like a different paper.