Washington, D.C, District of Columbia Jul 31, 2020 (Issuewire.com) - Shortly before midnight on June 15, 2018, a group of Marines exited a bar in Dupont Circle where they came upon Craig Tinsky wheat-pasting the area with posters mocking Trump for the then just-revealed child separation policy. They asked what he was doing and why. He answered, "Taking children from their parents is disgusting and horrifying. We should all try to stop it. I am an artist, and I may not be able to do very much, but I can't do nothing! I can do this."
That attitude led Tinsky to create his most meticulously detailed piece of art - the Tubman Twenty. When the Treasury indefinitely delayed the scheduled issuance of the new design of the twenty dollar bill, substituting Harriet Tubman's portrait for Andrew Jackson's, the DC artist was determined to create his own version of the bill. Harriet Tubman epitomizes the values of American heroism. She selflessly risked her life to save others, serving as an army scout, a nurse, a spy, and an essential engineer of the Underground Railroad. As much as any person in our history, she deserves the honor of being memorialized.
Craig Tinsky is known for his Papercut art, not his drawings. He routinely takes a single sheet of paper and cuts thousands of precisely shaped and positioned holes in it to create an image so detailed it resembles a photograph. Drawing is not his typical medium. He drew upon his dedication to precision and detail in making his Tubman Twenty. He took months drawing the overlapping guilloché patterns that make up the background of currency. Wanting to meticulously produce every twist and curve, he kept scrapping his work for larger iterations, allowing greater opportunity to map out the design that ancient Greek artisans made on a rose-engine lathe. Using nothing but black Sharpies (37 in total), he drew a bill over 6' long. Tinsky said, "I thought the details were essential, so I increased the dimensions until I could draw them all to my satisfaction. What I lack in talent, I make up for in patience." Even at that tremendous size, the lines of the guilloche pattern average only 3 millimeters wide, and if they could be unspooled and laid straight, they'd likely be over a mile long.
The Workhouse Art Center in Lorton, Virginia displayed the Tubman Twenty in an early 2020 show of Tinsky's work titled, Paper Heroes. The artist received repeated requests for prints of the work. He since created posters, shirts, and other collectibles honoring Harriet Tubman and needling the Treasury's failure to take the dignified and anticipated steps to put the bill in circulation. Images of Tinsky's Tubman Twenty have materialized around Washington DC on clothing and street art that have been common accents to the protests of 2020. Collectors may buy copies of his work for as little at $5 at www.TubmanTwenty.com
Media Contact
Craig Tinsky, Artist craig@craigtinsky.com 2025499981 4319 4th Street NW http://www.tubmantwenty.com
