Crane served as deputy librarian of the College until 2007 and has held various other positions at Dartmouth since his graduation, assisting in studio art exhibitions and printmaking. His current exhibit at the Hopkins Center is organized into four main sections: the Monreale, Wriggle, letterforms and Tailwind series. Although the pieces differ in their underlying themes and in the techniques used to create them, they connect seamlessly. The exhibit is unified by the color scheme and attention to lines and varying transparency.
The Monreale series, which relies on photopolymer etching, was inspired by a photograph Crane took of a rooftop on the cloister of the Cathedral in Monreale, Sicily, he said.
"I liked the strong diagonal lines, intense shadows and interesting surface texture," Crane said. "When I saw this roof, I knew there was a print here."
Crane began the series by manipulating a photograph on Photoshop, cropping and converting it to black and white and increasing the contrast. He then printed it onto acetate sheets, which were placed on photopolymer plates and exposed to ultraviolet light. The plates are inked with blue, red and yellow transparent inks and layered on top of one another to create different compositions, according to Crane.
"Each print is unique and gives a different range of colors and depth," he said. "The way the lines converge gives an interesting perspective, visually warping the surface."
Although this may seem like a strict, formulaic approach to creating art, Crane's prints are lively and engaging.
"I enjoy the beauty of art," he said. "Printmaking requires technical mastery and forces the artist to puzzle things out yet surprise is always part of my work. No matter what your intentions are, you will be surprised."
Crane graduated with a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Dartmouth, and his interest in the empirical world is evident in his attention to detail in his prints.
In contrast to the Monreale series, the Wriggle series is much more whimsical. To create these images, Crane uses stencil monotype printing, a technique that entails using plexiglass and stencils to transfer the image onto paper without having to make any incised lines. Since only one print can be made from each monotype, every piece is different. Crane particularly enjoys working with stencils to create his prints because they make hard, crisp forms of overlapping colors and transparencies, he said.
Although he follows the same rules regarding composition, space and layering, Crane cuts the stencils used to make the print freehandedly, which gives a more joyful, light-hearted vibe.
"I wanted to make people smile," he said.
In "Seeing Through," Crane emphasizes variations in transparencies and layers with the goal of revealing a greater message about the way people see and analyze things.
"Metaphorically, the changes in colors of the different works represent how events and experiences relate to and depend on one another," he said. "I want viewers to take this experience into the world looking through different lenses in order to understand the different layers of issues."
Only in the past four years since he retired from the position of deputy librarian has Crane been able to spend a significant amount of his time on printmaking. Although he took many studio art classes as an undergraduate at Dartmouth and pursued his interest in art in his free time during his career working for the library, he now gets to spend much more time at his studio in Provincetown, Mass. In Hanover, he assists the Studio Art Exhibition Program and teaches printmaking classes in the studio art department at Dartmouth.
"The best way to learn is by teaching," Crane said.
He said he enjoys teaching printmaking in particular because it is an "ancient technique" that has been passed "from person to person, generation to generation," he said.
"It is lovely to be a part of that art tradition," Crane said.
