Pocahontas Gets a New Passport, Enrique Chagoya; Michael Krueger; KU Fine Art Department

During Chagoya’s visit to KU in 2000, he created this print of the Powhatan princess Pocahontas. In the top half of the print, Pocahontas is portrayed with a Native headdress, referencing her Indigenous identity. However, in the lower half of the artwork, she is dressed in European clothing that suggests her role in England’s imperial propaganda during the colonization of North America. Her multiple facial features reflect the effects of colonization on Indigenous cultural identity, and on Pocahontas herself.

During Chagoya’s visit to KU in 2000, he created this print of the Powhatan princess Pocahontas. In the top half of the print, Pocahontas is portrayed with a Native headdress, referencing her Indigenous identity. However, in the lower half of the artwork, she is dressed in European clothing that suggests her role in England’s imperial propaganda during the colonization of North America. Her multiple facial features reflect the effects of colonization on Indigenous cultural identity, and on Pocahontas herself.

Etching is an intaglio printmaking technique. Intaglio includes all techniques (most commonly engraving and etching) where incisions or indentations are made in a plate to hold the ink and create lines. In etching, a metal plate is prepared with an acid-resistant ground. The artist draws lines through the ground that are ‘bitten’ and made deeper when the plate is immersed in an acid bath. Once the ground is removed, the artist applies ink to the plate that rests in the sunken lines but is wiped from the plate surface. The artist then places the plate against dampened paper and passes it through a printing press, which exerts the pressure necessary to transfer the ink in the sunken lines to the paper.
Aquatint is a type of etching that produces shaded values that create the effect of an ink or watercolor wash. The artist applies powdered resin to the metal plate and heats the plate to melt the resin. The artist then applies acid that bites channels around the resin. Deeper channels, from a longer application of acid, hold more ink and provide a deeper tonal value, while shallow channels produce lighter gray tones.

Tap the web icon to read an interview with Enrique Chagoya from Hyperallergic.