We are excited to welcome Don Carr to Smokestack for a casual talk about his printmaking practice through the lens of a number of collaborative projects. He will share examples of his work along with stories of working with other printmakers and artists throughout the years.
- Date: Friday November 27
- Time: 11AM – 12PM
- Location: Smokestack Analog Studio (270 Sherman Ave. N)
- FREE
Biography
Don Carr began his professional career in the early 1970s as a printmaker, working primarily in lithography while exploring the relationship between imagery, symbolism, and contemporary culture. His early works, including *Fun Lovers (Bacchanalia)* (1973) and *TV Service – Serviceman* (1974), reflect an early interest in the expressive possibilities of printmaking. Over the decades, his practice expanded to include mixed-media painting, digital and letterpress photomontage, photography, and holography.
Beginning in the early 1990s, Don made regular visits to Italy and continues to divide his time between Toronto and Umbria. His experiences there deepened his interest in ancient art, artifacts, myths, and archetypes, and in their potential to generate new meanings for contemporary life. This ongoing inquiry connects historical imagery with modern experience, bringing together diverse visual languages, materials, and techniques.
Spanning several decades, Don’s work reflects an evolving artistic practice, from early experiments in printmaking to ongoing explorations of mythological and symbolic imagery. His engagement with ancient archetypes—figures and symbols embodying transformation, duality, nature, and the cycles of existence—provides a framework for reinterpreting the past in a contemporary context. Works such as Wired Dionysus and Janus explore the enduring relevance of classical mythology and its capacity to illuminate the complexities of modern life.
Don’s printmaking has evolved through lithography, photomechanical processes, letterpress, and experimental approaches to etching. His collaboration with artist-printer Laine Groeneweg began at Open Studio in Toronto in 2017 and continued at Smokestack Studio in Hamilton in 2018. Together, they developed an unconventional colour-etching process in which line drawings are photo-transferred to copper plates and deeply etched in acid. The plates are then inked and wiped collaboratively, producing variations in colour and tonal effects while retaining the integrity of the original etched lines. Each impression becomes a distinct interpretation of the image.
The resulting works demonstrate how technical experimentation and collaboration can transform an established image into something new. For Don, printmaking is not simply a means of reproduction but an evolving process of discovery, in which variations in colour, material, and technique open new possibilities for familiar imagery. Across different media and periods, his work explores how inherited symbols can be reinterpreted, transformed, and made meaningful for our time.
Further information about Don’s work can be found at **www.doncarr.ca**.
