Frank Boyden Studio

Frank Boyden began making prints in 1963 at Colorado College and studied with Gabor Peterdi at Yale during graduate school. He stopped making prints in 1968 but resumed production of drypoints, etchings and lithographs in 1984. Since that time Boyden has produced approximately 400 editions of prints. It is a monumental accomplishment by any standard since he not only makes the imagery but also prints it himself. In 1999 he built a large print facility at his home on the Oregon Coast, making his own presses and all equipment.

From 1984 to 2000 much of Boyden’s printed imagery paralleled the imagery found on the ceramics. However, in 2000 Boyden began to produce prints that explored the human condition as well as a series of mystical landscapes. Of note are the Uncle Skulky prints (a suite of 21 prints), the Lens prints (a suite of 9 prints) and The Empathies (a suite of 96 prints). What is different here is that Boyden began a serious investigation of narrative imagery and visual and psychological story telling. This was much easier to do with printmaking than on individual ceramic pieces. What is interesting is that in 2006 he turned his narrative attention back to ceramics, producing works detailing Uncle Skulky and works like the Democracy Pots.

The Portland Art Museum’s Gilkey Center houses a complete archive of Boyden’s prints.