The upcoming Lisa Mackie exhibition at The Ink Shop in Ithaca is a meditation on the phrase “The Forest for the Trees.”  To not see the forest for the trees means to not appreciate a larger situation because one has focused on only a few individual details.  Mackie thinks that the individual details, in art and in every context, are critically important.  What is a forest without its individual trees?  What is a painting without its individual brushstrokes?  The individual words “the,” “forest,” “for the,” and “trees” are as much a subject matter to Mackie as the trees and animals found in forests.  

This exhibition is both a celebration of Kahn’s artistic achievement and an opportunity to encounter the breadth of his practice through works gathered from his own collections. From woodcuts and drawings to books and typographic explorations, these pieces reveal an artist deeply engaged with the possibilities of making, printing, and communicating through visual form. Kahn’s influence extended beyond the work he produced to the students and fellow artists he encouraged, the knowledge he shared, and the creative community he helped nurture. For the Ink Shop, presenting his work is a way to honor that legacy: to bring these prints and related works into view, to share them with a new audience, and to celebrate the enduring connection between an artist, his work, and the printmaking community he helped inspire.