“Steam Otters”
Artist: Elsa DiGiovanni
Hand-carved linocut print, oil-based relief ink on 100% cotton fabric, 2025
MORE ABOUT ELSA DIGIOVANNI
"This piece is inspired by the memories a steaming cup of coffee holds in my life. My dad introduced me to coffee in my teenage years. First, he mixed a little bit of coffee into my steaming milk and sugar. Then, he showed me my hometown through the lens of all the local coffee shops, showing me the community he has built in these local coffee havens. Since this introduction, my dad and I have had coffee and lunch in my hometown, Portland, ME, every time I visit. We catch up and talk about how lives, the hard things that bring us down, and how we were lifted back up again. My dad’s favorite animal is the otter. The otters holding hands, coming out of the steam in my coffee cup, represent the connection and memories my dad and I have created together."
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~ Quote from Elsa DiGiovanni about "Steam Otters." The image presented here is a hi-res photo of a hand-printed lincocut on fabric.
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Elsa DiGiovanni was born and raised in Portland, ME and now lives and creates in Burlington, VT. She is in graduate school at the University of Vermont for Social Work and has a small printmaking business. She up-cycles clothing by thrifting locally and hand-printing her hand-carved linocuts onto the fabric. She also makes prints, tea towels, bandanas and patches with her linoleum stamps. She is inspired by movement and fluidity, growth and nature and the two states she has lived in. For her, creating art is like sitting by the edge of the ocean, a lake or a river, calming and revitalizing.