The poem in this piece was written by Nelly Gable, the only woman to have a career as a punchcutter. Working at the Imprimerie Nationale in Paris, she wrote about cutting a letter from a steel bar, about how its emergence is like giving birth, something best understood by this mother of three. The piece is in both her original French and an English translation.
Emergence: 2025 Member's Exhibition
Stock-Allen
Nancy Stock-Allen
Nancy Stock-Allen is a graphic designer, design historian, author, educator, and owns a Vandercook Sp-20 press. After her MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art she worked as a designer in New York and Philadelphia. She is a tour guide in the Rare Book Department in the Philadelphia Free Library.
La promenade fantastique du graveur de poincons a l'ouvrage / The magical journey of a punchcutter at work
6 1/8 x 8 1/8 folded, 18" x 8 1/8 flat
Polymer plate and aluminum plate on letterpress on Arches paper.
2009
Learning to Swim and Dive in Life
This piece is about moving on after an overwhelming trauma in life. The text comes from a pamphlet “Learning to Swim.” The instructions for floating, controlling your breath, beginning to more forward, etc. all resonated with me as a means for survival.
5.25" x 8 "
Letterpress, relief print, laid rag paper.
2015