Leslie Barlow Releases New Lithograph with Highpoint Editions

Leslie Barlow has released a 14-run lithograph in collaboration with Highpoint Editions, titled Record of a Rolling Garden (2024). Based on a photo taken at her birthday party in October 2020, the print depicts two of Barlow’s friends posing at the Roller Garden, a St. Louis Park, Minnesota, roller rink where she skated since she was a child until it closed in 2021. Framed by a nostalgic patterned floor and bright circles of color, Barlow’s painterly sensibility and talent for portraiture permeate this new work.

Describing her love of skating and how her relationship with it has developed, Barlow writes, “…in 2020 the recreation found a whole new meaning for me.” Referencing the article How Black and Brown Women are Reclaiming Rollerskating Culture, she noted how skating felt revolutionary and joyful amidst the taxing reality of racial injustice. “Skating was not only a safer activity to do in the height of Covid, but it allowed for a physical release of the built up anger, anxiety, and pressure.” 

Speaking at a print release celebration at Highpoint Center for Printmaking on July 27, Barlow described the exciting challenge and collaborative process of returning to printmaking for the first time since college. After trying a range of techniques, she fell in love with photo lithography and its potential for transforming images.

Record of a Rolling Garden (2024) was made with lead printer Zac Adams-Bliss and apprentice printer Anda Tanaka. For availability visit the Highpoint Center for Printmaking’s website.