Full Circle: Teaching, Creating, and Curating brings together the sabbatical work of Prof. Bill Hosterman, who teaches drawing and printmaking in the Department of Visual and Media Arts at GVSU, and a selection of works from the K. Caraccio Printing Studio and Collection in New York City. Hosterman first met master printer, artist, and educator Kathy Caraccio as an undergraduate. A year later, he interned at her printmaking workshop, an experience that proved pivotal in his career. This exhibition pairs Hosterman’s recent work with prints Caraccio has collected over her more than 45-year career in a celebration of printmaking, mentorship, and liberal arts education.

Bill Hosterman was born in Pennsylvania and received a BFA degree with an emphasis in printmaking from the Pennsylvania State University in 1994. During 1995-96, he was a Fulbright Student Scholar in South Africa, and from 1996-99, he attended Indiana University in Bloomington and received his MFA in printmaking. Since 1999, he has been a faculty member in the Department of Visual and Media Arts at Grand Valley State University. Bill has participated in several artist residencies and has exhibited nationally and internationally.

Kathy Caraccio is a master printer, artist, curator, professor, and collector. She has collaborated with hundreds of artists from all over the planet, nurturing a large and caring community around her studio. Born and raised in New York City, she has her BFA from Herbert Lehman College, was trained in etching color print with Maria Samosa (El Museo del Barrio, NYC, 1972-73), in viscosity printing with Arun Bose and Krishna Reddy (NYC, 1970-73), papermaking with Zarina Hashmi (NYC, 1979), and in Hanga (Japanese water-based woodblock printing) with Sensei Toshi Yoshida (Nagano – Japan, 1984).

"My artwork is an expression of the duality that I inhabit. Each piece I am creating is the product of a physical and interior conversation I have with and through my work, about history, relationships, place, and meaning. These elements manifest themselves simultaneously, like a chain stitch on a hem, which appears different when viewed from the top and underside but is intertwined by the same threads."

"This work combines prints from live-edge wood planks with my hand-drawn work. The wood provides a material that is an environmental and emotional element of history and place. Layered with it is my contribution, which offers an imprint of my instinct as a person and an artist, as well as a reflection and response to the source. The process is highly physical..." 

"...For the viewer, I want my work to be visible as both vast and minute, expansive yet intimate. The wood grain is a galaxy, water, and the body. The etchings are borders, the evidence of the human presence and pathways. The combinations speak of harmony and discord, where one cannot exist without the other."

- Bill Hosterman

"Like pieces of cloth stitched together to form a quilt, these prints create a colorful patchwork depicting a vibrant printmaking community and a unique period in art history. The pieces were selected from the 5,000-plus works collected by master printer and educator Kathy Caraccio during her more than 45-year career in New York City. This exhibit is designed to educate, inspire, and reflect a vision that aligns with the goals of higher education. Printmaking and liberal education are cut from the same cloth – using inquiry, creativity, and knowledge to resolve challenges and accomplish goals..." 

"...In curating this show, I hope viewers can explore the ways that the threads binding Caraccio to her artistic community became entwined in my history as an artist and printmaker, and now wind their way into my students’ education. For me, it embodies the spirit of education as layers of knowledge and experience are continually stitched together in new patterns."

- Bill Hosterman

This exhibit is no longer on display.

Haas Center for Performing Arts Gallery (PAC 1121), Allendale Campus
January 12 - March 29, 2024