episode 252 | Nathan Catlin

This week Miranda speaks with artist and collaborative printer Nathan Catlin—Master Printer at the LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies at Columbia University—whose practice spans relief, screenprint, mosaic, stained glass, and an ever-growing love affair with clay. We get into Nathan’s origin story (the heartbreak + linocut era), why the physicality of carving still feels like home, and how he keeps his own narrative prints clean and focused while helping other artists make wildly ambitious editions. We talk shop about trust in collaboration, the perils of pedantry, and projects that push the edge of “what counts” as print—from boomboxes packed with ephemera to playable records in thrift-store suitcases. We also talk about teaching at Columbia (and previously RISD and City), why prints remain the most democratic corner of the art world, and the quiet power of everyday moments—like a COVID-era bathroom haircut—pressed into permanence.