Artist Bio

Ingrid Ankerson is an educator, letterpress printer, maker, and graphic designer in
Ypsilanti, MI. She has an undergraduate degree in Journalism from the University of
Wisconsin and a graduate degree in Creative Writing and Publishing Arts from the
University of Baltimore. She has worked as a web and print designer, writer, editor, and teacher since the early days of the internet. Today she is a full-time graphic design faculty member at Washtenaw Community College. She started pursing her passion for printing in 2016 after taking a letterpress workshop at Penland School of Craft.

https://ingridankerson.com

@ingrid_ankerson

Artist Statement

I’m interested in the potential of typography using the “old school” method of
printing—that is, working with historic, movable type and the printing press—but in non-traditional ways.  I use very small, metal pieces of type and the act of repetition and movement to create geometric shapes, textures, dimensions, and patterns. Each tinyletter is organized by hand on the bed of my press; I print what’s there, rotate the form in a tool called an angle chase, and print again. A single piece of paper may go through the press hundreds of times to achieve the resulting design.
Each print is made with 8 or 10 point Caslon, a typeface designed by William
Caslon (1692-1766) who was an English gunsmith, engraver, and type designer much admired by Benjamin Franklin. So much so, that Franklin chose one of Caslon’s designs as the typeface for the Declaration of Independence.
I see the work I do as a sort of collaboration between me, William Caslon, and the rich unknown history of whatever stories my collection of type and my press have printed. Sometimes when I am printing, I wonder if William Caslon would be standing next to me shaking his head or laughing with delight.