Io Ritorno: Michael Vasquez Explores Memory Through Risograph and Return

Io Ritorno is a self-initiated risograph-printed, spiral-bound zine by Michael Vasquez, created under the name Vasqmic. Printed at Outlet in Portland, Oregon, where he previously worked as a studio assistant, the publication uses the studio’s materials and processes as a direct extension of his own practice.

At its core, Io Ritorno weaves together family photographs and written anecdotes to examine memory, inheritance, and the idea of return. Centered around his grandmother, the book traces the quiet and often fragmented ways family histories are preserved through images passed down, stories retold, and moments only partially remembered.

The title, Io Ritorno, meaning “I return” in Italian, reflects both physical and emotional return. It speaks to revisiting family archives, returning to places shaped by migration, and circling back to memories that shift over time. Rather than unfolding as a strict narrative, the zine operates as a constellation of impressions. Photographs, recollections, and reflections sit side by side, sometimes aligning, sometimes contradicting.

Risograph printing plays a conceptual and material role in the project. The medium’s characteristic misregistration, texture, and subtle variation echo the instability of memory itself. Images bleed, overlap, and fade, mirroring the way personal histories are continually rewritten. The spiral binding reinforces the zine’s physicality, inviting it to be handled, flipped through, and returned to, much like memory itself.

Io Ritorno does not attempt to offer a definitive portrait of Vasquez’s grandmother. Instead, it acknowledges the gaps and silences that shape family storytelling. The work considers identity as something formed not only through what is inherited, but through what remains unresolved.

Initially produced in an edition of approximately 35 copies, the zine exceeded expectations. Vasquez admits he never imagined people would want to buy a photo book about his own family and memories. Yet the edition sold out, allowing him to share his family’s traditions and history with a wider audience. The discovery of a copy at a Goodwill a year later became part of the work’s ongoing life, reinforcing the themes of circulation, loss, and rediscovery.

Michael Vasquez is currently pursuing an MFA in Printmaking at the Tyler School of Art + Architecture. His practice explores memory, personal archives, and material process through zines and print-based work. Io Ritorno sits at the intersection of intimate archive and printed matter, using the zine format to create a space that is deeply personal yet universally resonant.

More of his work can be found at:
https://vasqmic.com

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/vasqmic