Watch First Year Experience (FYE) faculty member LaToya Hobbs create a woodblock print portrait of Naima Mora, referencing the sculpture “Naima” created by Elizabeth Catlett, using traditional printmaking techniques over the course of two months. The piece is a part of the exhibition Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist, on view March 9 – July 6, 2025 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

In this behind-the-scenes time lapse, Hobbs uses pencils and stencils to create a sketch, based on a photograph of Naima – Carlett’s granddaughter and former America’s Next Top Model winner – on a massive wood block. She then moves on to a carving the block and preparing it for printing. This wood block, in turn, is split back into two parts, inked and run through a printing press to create two pieces on paper. Hobbs then joins the two pieces of paper with tape and makes her final touches to display the immense print that references Catlett’s adopted home of Cuernavaca, Mexico by depicting Naima surrounded by Dahlia flowers.