Mark Hoppman, a Drake Alum who worked in the print industry, has spent the last 20 years making artists’ books and drawing and painting in the Puget Sound region. Take a look at his handmade books to fully recognize the artistry needed to illustrate and bind these one-of-a-kind works! Due to Covid-19, The Anderson Gallery and Drake University are closed until February 1, 2021. We are using this time to highlight Drake Alums who are making art and impacting their communities, and we are thankful for Mark for sharing his work with us.
BIOGRAPHY:
Mark Hoppmann, book artist and illustrator, is a board member of the Puget Sound Book Artists where he served as President from 2012-2017. His work has been featured on Youtube, Cityline Tacoma, and KUPS radio and exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions in the Puget Sound region. In addition to private collections, his work can be found in the Library of Congress, the archives and rare book collections of the University of Puget Sound, the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, and the collections of the Ringling College of Art & Design, Emory University, Baylor University, the University of California at Bayside among others.
STATEMENT:
Mark Hoppmann is a recognized illustrator and book artist who lives and works in Tacoma, Washington. His paintings and drawings are influenced by his roots in the endless wheat fields of western Nebraska and his knowledge of the streets of Florence Italy to the beaches of the Pacific Northwest coast.
Armed with a camera, sketchbook, and his imagination, he captures the weatherworn textures of nature in ink and watercolor. His eclectic accumulation of bric-a-brac, memories, experiences, and books inspire his paintings and illustrations. His ideas begin as random thoughts and emotions conflicting with each other as they pass through his mind’s eye. Details unnoticed by most – a mood, moments captured by my camera or in the blink of an eye – all come into play. At some point, balance of color, shape, or line begin to sort themselves into one cohesive concept. Composition and texture form layers of meaning, resulting in a book woven by intuition and interpretation.
SELECTED WORKS:
Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crows = Colophon: 162 Illustrations: India ink, graphite, color pencil, conte, watercolor. Limited Edition and digitally printed on Canson 90# classic cream paper. Hand sewn and bound in hand dyed veg tanned leather. Receptacle: manila rope, rusted fence staples and nails, hand-stained distressed wood. Courtesy of the Archives and Special Collections of Collins Library, the University of Puget Sound.
Crowsette Window: Original Rendering from the artist’s book, Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crows = India ink on Strathmore Vellum Bristol, 7” x 10”
Playing Hide & Go Seek in the Dark = Colophon: Assorted tales by the artist, hand typed on papyrus using a 1946 Silent Smith Corona Typewriter, mounted on paper handmade by the artist. Illustrations: India ink and white pencil, Coptic style binding, Manila hemp, thread, barbed wire. From the collection of Cynthia Sears, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.
The Genie Within = Colophon: The Story of Prince Houssain and His Magic Carpet from The 1001 Arabian Nights. Defying the conventional wisdom of what constitutes a book, the bottle becomes the book cover. Typed with a 1952, 15” Underwood typewriter on Kozo paper, the lines of type were cut and spliced to create a page approximately 150 feet in length. The story is read as one extracts the continuous line of text connected to the stopper in the shape of an ink quill. Paper maché and Kozo.
Transitions: Original Drawing from the Artists’ Book titled The Imaginarium = A series of 64 illustrations comprised of two stories in a do-si-do book form, created to represent an enigma; Everything begins in the middle, the end is the beginning and the beginning is the end. Graphite and color pencil on 90# warm white Legion Stonehenge Paper.
Learn more about Mark’s work by visiting his website below!