While most students print homework out for class, Anastasia Inciardi ’19 prints for fun. Inciardi, a studio art and art history double major, devotes much of her time to producing ink prints.

The subjects of her prints range from lobsters and whales to herself, playing rugby to her hometown of New York City. New York is a particularly common theme for her because she sells some of her prints as T-shirts through Brigid’s Well, a small store in Brooklyn. Inciardi’s work first went on sale during the 2016 election, when she sold a series of T-shirts and donated the profits to Planned Parenthood. Inciardi also sells her work via Instagram and hopes to soon have a personal website where people will be able to purchase and commission work.

Inciardi has always been heavily involved with the arts. During high school, she worked at the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. However, her interest in printmaking only began when she took Instructor of Art Ellen Sheffield’s Book Arts (ARTS 191) class as a sophomore. Since then, Inciardi has made prints in a number of different ways. Inciardi tends to create many pieces in short bursts, rather than spending large amounts of time on an individual print. “It’s kind of like an index of whatever’s in my brain,” she said.

Inciardi’s printmaking process begins with a sketch in her notebook. She then traces the sketch backwards onto a linoleum sheet, a technique she’s now mastered. “I don’t even have to think about it anymore,” she said.

Once the carving is finished, she uses a paint roller to apply ink. Next, she puts a piece of paper on top and smooths it down with a metal spoon. When she pulls the piece of paper off, the print is complete.

Inciardi draws inspiration from many different artists, including the illustrator Julia Rothman and the printmaker and sculptor Ruth Asawa. Inciardi also finds inspiration in comics, especially those written by Brian K. Vaughn. Some of her favorite comics include “Paper Girls” and “Saga” for their original characters and art. Her next project will take its inspiration from literature. Inciardi plans to create one enormous print illustrating the cities from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, a novel in which a fictionalized Marco Polo tells stories of 55 fantastical cities he has visited. She plans to write her own stories underneath each city.

Despite being such an accomplished printmaker, Inciardi is just taking her first formal printmaking class, taught by Associate Professor of Art Read Baldwin, this semester. She has done a lot of experimenting in class: making prints with etchings on plexiglass as well as using the school’s new laser cutter. In this class, she has also recently produced a series of 100 prints in which she used strands of twine to create unusual designs. She is hoping to find gallaries to send these prints out to soon. So if you’re ever at an art exhibition and see an ink print of women playing rugby, don’t be surprised if you find the name Anastasia Inciardi next to it.