NEWS
2024/10/15

SimWorks Art Collective Spotlight: Nicholas Haig-Arack / Human Mushroom & Earth Gazer Screen Prints

We’re fortunate at SimWorks to be surrounded by a solar system of creative and talented artists, designers, makers, craftspeople, writers and photographers. They find themselves in our orbit and through shared values and magnetism, an attraction and spark is realized and the results are some of the more iconic, relatable and invaluable work that we get to put out. Nicholas Haig-Arack came in to SimWorks orbit many years ago originally via our relationship with Jeremy Sycip – and our ties to Napa and Sonoma County. That relationship has evolved and flourished over the years, and we’ve had the good fortune of working with Nick on some of our favorite and most widely recognized graphics and soft good and merchandize offerings from the past handful of years.

Today we’re extremely excited to announce that we have both Human Mushroom and Earth Gazer screen prints avaiable in full color archival quality screen prints. Each print is limited to 100 pieces. We had Nick put together an artist statement on his work with Forthrite Printing in Oakland.

From Nick: The Mushroom Man and Earthgazer designs have been traveling the world, adorning many beautiful bicycles and decorating the shelves of some of the best bike shops in the universe. To see my artwork in these places and spaces gives me an immense sense of satisfaction.

I love making art that is accessible for the masses. To that end, I’ve always wanted to make posters.

When SimWorks asked if I wanted to print posters, I said yes immediately. I knew that I wanted to make the highest-quality posters on nice, heavy stock. I knew I wanted to make posters that are worthy of being framed and displayed in your living space (although they could just as easily be thumbtacked on the wall in your garage, or hung above the pegboard at your local bike shop with pride. )

Size: 12″ x 24″ / 10 spot colors

Silkscreen Printed by Forthrite Printing

And I knew that this was a job for my good friend Conor at Forthrite Printing.

I’ve known Conor Ottenweiller since the late nineties, when we both went to high school in the same suburban hometown. Our dads were colleagues. We were both in the art crowd and we became friends. Conor moved to the East Bay to attend the California College of Arts and Crafts, where he studied printmaking. At some point, Conor lived in a rad art collective called Abco in West Oakland, where he refined his printmaking skills and hosted legendary warehouse punk shows. After graduating from CCAC, he started his own print shop, Forthrite Printing, in the back of a historic North Oakland storefront. In the fifteen years since Forthrite opened, I’ve remained in touch with Conor as our lives have transformed and expanded. Forthrite is an all-purpose print shop that does “normal” print shop jobs (like band shirts) but they specialize in hand-pulled, silk screened posters. In an industry impacted by increased automation, Forthrite is an old-school shop that still makes prints by hand, one at a time. He’s the most skilled screenprinter I know, so it was a real joy for me to collaborate with Conor to get these prints made for SimWorks. 

The quality of craft in these prints will impress anyone who has ever squeegeed ink through a silkscreen. Consider how much precision and dedication it takes to burn separate screens for each color (Human Mushroom has 9 spot colors, Earthgazer has 10 spot colors), and keep each piece of paper in perfect registration so there’s no bleed or white space in between colors, and physically pull the inks through the screens, and then repeat each process 200 times (100 of each design). Each one of these posters is the finished product of an American craftsman executing some of his best work. 

Approx.  18″ x 18″ print / 9 spot colors

Silkscreen Printed by Forthrite Printing

Each one of these posters is hand-signed and numbered, and both designs are limited to 100 pieces. These are archival quality, meant to last several lifetimes.

When I create artwork, it’s not just “my” work – it’s part of a conversation, a cycle that continues on long after I’ve finished the drawings.

I am immensely grateful to collaborate with my friends at Forthrite and Simworks to bring these posters to you.

I hope they’re an opportunity to appreciate both the illustration of an idea, as well as the process through which it’s achieved. I hope they inspire a great conversation or an idea of your own worth sharing.

Mostly, I hope you love them.

-Nick

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