Thinking in Layers: Screenprints by Paxton Dillon

Paxton Dillon is a queer, trans, and neurodivergent printmaking artist who lives and works in Pittsburgh, PA. He has a BFA from Edinboro University in Edinboro, PA. The majority of these screen prints have been created locally at the printmaking studio in the Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media. 

Screen printing is a hands-on print process where stencils are created on a mesh screen. Colored ink is then pushed through the stencil onto paper. These prints are hand made with each layer of color printed separately in layers to create the completed image. Learn more about fine art printmaking by searching “printmaking” in the library catalogue!

Paxton's body of print work primarily focuses on introspection of his life experiences informed by his intersectional identity as a queer, transgender, and late-diagnosed high-masking autistic/ADHD person. For many years, being openly queer was a part of his life yet he was unsure how to speak about it publicly. Therapy, education, and deep introspection helped him unravel the metaphorical ball of string holding his sense of identity together. This eventually led to learning, in his mid-twenties, he was high-masking autistic, and not long after came a formal ADHD diagnosis. To some, this didn’t come as a surprise, but this was a new, exciting, and complex recontextualizing of his life that he felt compelled to share. 

However, Paxton realized that he has found communicating often complex thoughts and feelings through “neurotypical” channels difficult. He had to find other ways to express them. Using his work as an indirect yet personal connection to the broader community parallels his mental health journey. He needed to break everything apart to then put it back together. This is also a significant part of understanding how screen printing works: you have to work forwards and back. Starting with the image you want to create you then have to break it apart into individual layers, forcing you to stop and think about the individual pieces of the image and how they all fit together and line up to make the final product.

Thinking in Layers will be on view daily through Saturday 4/26 and is a collaboration between the library, the artist, and Evolve Coaching. 25% of each sale will benefit the library. 

A closing reception with Paxton will be held on Saturday 4/26, 12pm-1:30pm. 

Follow Paxton on Instagram @pax_dillon or visit his website to learn more!