2019-2021 Printmaking Artist in Residence

Dayon Royster’s pfashən-uhble naan-sints series uses phonetics to playfully focus on serious topics including accessibility, bias, context, information, research, rules and truth. This second installment touches on those same themes and adds moral superiority, the culpability of society at large, and the pros and cons of individuality. Royster’s prints feature phonetic expressions intended to slow the reader down and ask them to “sit with what they’re reading or interacting with until they fully understand it.” His work is based in research into blind attachment to ideologies, hoax articles and confirmation bias. Royster uses his pieces to pique curiosity in the reader, “not allowing for total comfort or confidence that they’ve gotten to the bottom of it.”

Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Dayon Royster is currently dividing his time between the Lawrence Arts Center and teaching printmaking at the University of Iowa. Royster received his BFA in Printmaking from East Carolina University and an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Iowa. While at ECU, he embarked on his first foray into printmaking with no idea of the path down which it would send him. Printmaking continues to captivate him because of the creative problem-solving that is involved with the process; he returns day after day to try his hand at pulling a successful print. Royster’s current work conjures universal themes of accessibility, curiosity, empowerment, self-doubt, identity, suppression, symbolism, and the “other.”

In 2019, following an internationally competitive process, the Lawrence Arts Center selected Ashlyn Pope as our Ceramics Artist-in-Residence and Dayon Royster as our Printmaking Artist-in-Residence. Traditionally a one-year appointment, both Pope and Royster agreed to continue their residencies as the global pandemic stopped everything in its tracks and threw artists around the world into a state of suspended animation. Our artists in residence were fundamental in helping us maintain our mission during the past year to stay creative and continue providing access to the arts.

During more traditional residencies at the Arts Center, artists develop new bodies of work, collaborate in our studios, teach, and take part in community-driven projects. This year our artists in residence faced new challenges as they adapted their normal roles and proceeded in new, innovative ways. Their contributions were immeasurable. We are grateful for their dedication, and so glad we were able to spend an extra year with them.