Oi Fortin

Surf's Up

2021

Oi Fortin is an award-winning monotype printmaker, working in New Haven, CT, USA. Her contemporary abstract expressionist prints are notable for a vivid palette and spritely motifs, yet they can also evoke a calm and meditative state, summoning the mystical. Oi’s compositions are influenced by nature, relationships and the interior life. Reviewers describe Oi’s work as “emotionally charged, allegorical”, and “vibrant”. Her works have been exhibited world-wide and are in the permanent collections of museums and galleries in the US and Asia, and in private collections in those regions and in Europe. A monotype print is made by painting or drawing with ink on a plate. Special printmaking paper is placed on the plate and the two are passed through a printing press, transferring the image onto the paper. The print produced is one-of-a-kind (monotype). Monotype print-making has an element of serendipity and chance that occurs when ink and paper meet press. Oi enjoys the uncertainly and risk involved in pulling her prints, and the sense of discovery when she peels the paper off of the plate. She appreciates your interest in her prints and hopes that you experience the same joy in viewing them that she has in creating them.