Beth Herman Adler

Beth Herman Adler is a Chicago-based printmaker who creates unique monoprints and cyanotypes in her Evanston studio. Originally from Brooklyn, Adler attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and made the location her home following graduation. Adler has worked as a graphic designer for 25 years… she designs books, posters, and banners for prestigious clients that included National Geographic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Printmaking came later, following a summer course at OxBow School of Art in Michigan. Falling in love with the medium, Adler purchased her own etching press the following year. Soon, printmaking became the artist’s full-time art practice. She told Luxe Source that printmaking “brought me back to what I originally was drawn to in graphic design: the hands-on making of images.”

Currently, Adler is focusing on cyanotypes… a light-sensitive printing technique that is similar to one used in making blueprints. When exposed to UV-rays, the chemically treated paper turns a magnificent blue color. Some have called this specific shade Prussian blue.

Adler ties this special color to the time she spent swimming in Lake Michigan while attending her artist residency in Michigan. She says, “Swimming really put me in touch with these watery compositions. I had no press in the residency. So, I decided to use the sun.”

In order to make the cyanotypes, Adler places objects onto handmade paper. Specifically in her “tools of the Trade series,” Adler assembles instruments from different professions and uses them to form various silhouettes. The works she creates highlight local plant life as ethereal waterscapes. Her unique process involves vinegar, Saran Wrap, salt, and soap bubbles.

Once this part is complete, Adler places the pieces outside to process in the sunlight. Obviously, working with natural elements makes the work unpredictable and one-of-a-kind. “Adler fully embraces the mercurial process, noting “in many ways, it’s my dialogue with the sun.”

Cyanotype is an old photographic printing process that ensues in producing prints with a distinctive dark greenish-blue. The process occurs when ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide are combined and exposure to UV light creates ferric ferrocyanide (a color also known as Prussian Blue).

Adler herself uses this process in a number of ways. She explains, “For a straight cyanotype, objects or transparencies are placed on dried treated paper and exposed to the sun for 10-20 minutes. For “Wet Cyanotypes” I used local plants on treated paper that is wet and has various additives such as vinegar, tumeric, salt and soap bubbles. These are exposed to the sun for 4-12 hours and the image “cooks” with often surprising results. I love working in concert with the time of day, the intensity of the sun, the season, and the plant.”

For Adler, part of the magic is finding something beautiful in mundane, everyday objects. Her work can be found in collections at Northwestern University and Chicago’s Field Museum. Adler’s curiosity never wanes and it is likely that she will move on to explore different techniques in the future. She confirms, “I’m endlessly curious. And there’s so much to still explore.”