Me Time In A Pandemic, Lithography, 21″ x 26″ x 1.5″, 2021
The Eye Of The Storm, Lithography, 26″ x 32″ x 1.5″, 2021
The Man In The Bath, Lithography, 21″ x 29″ x 1.5″, 2021
Alyssa Kobza
[BFA] Printmaking
[Minor]
Sociology
Psychology
Women’s and Gender Studies
Sexuality Studies
I create art as a fill-in for language. Many times, my chaotic mind is a barrier, and I can’t put words in the right order to convey the emotion inside me. Art has become my stand-in for those unsaid words. I process emotions throughmaking my work, and the outcome is a record of that process. I find comfort and a sense of spiritual ritual through therepetitive motions of lithography: graining a stone, counter-etching a plate, etching over and over, and printing for hours on end. These are the times when I feel most grounded in myself, the most at peace with turmoil happening inside and outside of my mind.
I find lithography to be a sculptural process. Working both additively and reductively, I build up color, tone, andtexture through layers. Often, I create multiple layers from one stone by scraping away areas of the previous layer, reopening the stone to accept grease, adding crayon marks and tusche washes, and starting the process of etchingagain. Each layer is printed in translucent colors and reveals more and more information about the figures and their environment. This way of working is intuitive for me and is symbolic of the mental barriers I have built up throughout my life and my attempts to break down and scrape away the old ways of thinking about myself and the world.
In my series, De/Stabilized, my prints capture a meditative moment. This body of work represents physical, emotional, and spiritual circumstances at this point in my life. There is an overarching tension where two figures sit stoically in a bathtub, their bodies are close and touching -in an intimate moment- yet arguably situated in different worlds. They sit with emotionless faces -words are not being communicated- there is silence between them while the surrounding environment is chaotic. It is the eye of the storm; a moment of reflection on what it means to enter adulthood andmake transformative decisions while remaining in a cognitive state of stability and strength.
Bio
Alyssa Kobza is an artist based in Lincoln, Nebraska. She will receive a BFA with an emphasis in Printmaking in May 2021 and will be relocating to New Mexico to complete the Printer Training Program at the Tamarind Institute. Kobza’s work has been featured in multiple group exhibitions including at Gallery 9 (2019), Tippetts & Eccles Galleries (2021), and Eisentrager-Howard Gallery (2016, 2019, 2020, 2021) and a solo exhibition at the University of Nebraska MEDICI Gallery (2021). She has received the Elgas Grant, Peter & Inge Worth Scholarship, E. Evelyn Peterson Scholarship, Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts Scholarship, Rosa Peterson Fund, Nebraska Opportunity Grant, and the UNL Opportunity Grant. Kobza’s work is included in the Thomas P. Coleman print collection at the Sheldon Museum of Art. She participated in the Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experience (UCARE) at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln in 2019, 2020, and 2021.