Etc. Artist Talk: Brian Wagner

In this artist talk, recorded from a live Zoom on the 25th April 2025, I spoke to artist and commercial printer Brian Wagner about the themes and processes behind their recent lithographic work. This talk is the second in our Spring planographic printmaking term, where we focus on a different artist each month whose work involves planographic printmaking processes like monotype and lithography.

• If you'd like a better understanding of the printmaking terms used in the talk, check out our planographic explainer HERE.

• You can follow Brian on Instagram HERE

About
Brian received their B.F.A. in Printmaking and Art History from MSU Moorhead in 2019. In 2020 they attended the world-renowned Tamarind Institute and are a trained Collaborative Printer and Lithographer. They are currently working as a Collaborative Printer at Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis, MN where they also maintain their personal artistic practice. ​​​

​Their work is a collection of grief, love, and loss shown through subject matter rooted in themes of place and identity. They work primarily ​in lithography and book arts forming densely layered drawings, writings, and prints.

​Concentrating on rural landscape, bird flocks, and fragmented spaces, their work examines tenderness, intimacy, loneliness, and healing by engaging subjects of bird flocks, rural landscapes, and incorporation of text. Subjects are often drawn in separated compositions as a reference to the feeling of being "othered" by society and systemic norms. Fragmented spaces represent memory and pieces of lived experiences alongside the constant movement and search for belonging common in the queer experience.

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Upcoming talks

All Draw Patreon followers and supporters will receive links to all of these upcoming talks without needing to sign up - please feel free to share links to the talks as widely as you like. Thank you to our paid supporters who help us to fund the Zoom account and artist's fee for these talks.

• 23rd May '25 / 7-8pm / Scarlett Rebecca (Planographic print term)

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Past ETC Talks

We have a whole series of 1-hour+ ETC talks on our YouTube Channel HERE, from our Art/Work series where we explored the working lives and career progressions of 6 very different artists to our broader ETC series of artist interviews. These talks are great if you are looking for a little inspiration, need to hear more about how other artists have navigated a career in the artist or if you want something to listen to while you draw! You can find links below - I've added a few extra notes on the themes to help you pick between them.

2024/25 Etc. Artist talks:

• Jemma Gunning (Planographic print term)

• Laura Smith (Oil Paint term)

• Wendy Barratt (Oil Paint term)

• Alvin Kofi (Oil Paint term)

• Sena Adjovi (Graphite term)

• Leggy Gordon (Graphite term)

• Meg Buick (Graphite term)

ETC Art/Work series:

• Anita Taylor (Fine art drawing, The trinity Buoy Warf Drawing Prize)

• Peter James Field (Illustration, portrait painting, career transitions)

• Wuon-Gean Ho (Fine art printmaking, artists residencies)

• Chris Riddell (Illustration, includes live drawing!)

• Simon Martin (Director of Pallant House Gallery, curation)

• Eleanor Crook (Sculpture, studying & teaching human anatomy)

ETC Artist talks:

• Chloe Briggs (Drawing)

• Roy Eastland (Drawing)

• Amy Dury (Painting)

• Jeanette Barnes (City sketching)

• Caragh Savage  (Portrait drawing, charcoal & teaching)

• Philip Tyler (Sky Portrait Artist, painting, printmaking & teaching)

• Hattie Malcomson (Painting, printmaking, feminism in art, body taboos)

• This is Where We Meet (art collective, figure painting, exhibiting together)

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If you have suggestions of artists you'd like to here speak next year, let us know in the comments below!

All the best,

Jake