You can't take it with you… is currently on view at Hopkins Hall Gallery until September 27, 2024. The exhibition is inspired by the chaos in our lives, ranging from everyday stresses to larger cultural issues like climate change. The blue landscapes allow the viewers to be swept away while still enjoying the journey.

You can’t take it with you… is an abstract print installation by artist and Ohio University professor Melissa Haviland. In this interview, Haviland elaborates on her creative process behind the two installations featured in the show, including her inspiration and her choice to spotlight the color blue.

You're a printmaking professor at Ohio University. Did your students or peers inspire this exhibition?

I have been teaching screenprint and papermaking at Ohio University for twenty years. I printed “The Flood” (the wallpaper piece) with my student, Jaqueline Chau. It was technically challenging, and it took both of us in discussion to solve the printing problems as they happened. I was lucky to get to work with her on it. 

Could you elaborate on the issues surrounding our lives’ chaos and where that is represented in the show?

I thought about a considerable amount of things when making the piece. Aspects of this show are inspired by everything from sacred geometry and fine china tableware to rising sea levels and natural disasters. Admittedly, a viewer would get a more abstract feeling from the work, floating through the space on the waves. 

Why the color blue? It's in much of your work, and often refers to the sea. What is it about blue that allows you to dive into deeper topics?

I am in my blue period. Blue is both sad and calming, both sea and sky. Right now, I need indigo and ultramarine. I loved learning about both of these blues and the politics of their histories as pigments. To lean more into blue, I recommend reading Maggie Nelson’s Bluets!

How would you describe the process of creating the printed paper in this show?

The Flood is printed on a plastic material called Tyvek, which is used to wrap houses as they are being built. (s)well is printed on rolled graph paper. This series does have pieces made with handmade paper. Usually, I pulp vintage linens that I dyed with indigo in a Hollander beater to make the paper, allowing it to be a medium, sort of sky blue.

What about screenprinting fulfills you as an artist and teacher?

Screenprint is incredibly direct and versatile. It allows me to print in a fluid way and in obsessive multiple. It is also fun to teach students once they realize that it is not easy and begin to dedicate themselves.

Hopkins Hall Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 11 AM–4 PM. Stop by to see You can't take it with you... before it flows away!