Chicago-based artist Marylu E. Herrera has found a way to bring Risograph printing out of the studio and into everyday life. Through a series of collectible Riso-printed keychains, now stocked in Good Things Vending machines across Chicago, Herrera transforms traditional prints into small, tactile objects designed to be handled, carried, and encountered in public space.
Each keychain is fully produced using Risograph printing and comes packaged with multiple printed elements. Alongside the miniature framed print, buyers receive a Riso printed backing card with information about Herrera’s U.S. based Basurita Mail Club, as well as a printed sticker. Rather than treating print as something precious or untouchable, the project embraces accessibility, play, and interaction.
Since launching her monthly Riso mail club, Herrera has been exploring ways to make printmaking more playful and physical. The keychains grew out of this curiosity and from personal memory. Drawing inspiration from family vacations and collectible photo souvenirs, she began experimenting with how Riso prints could exist as portable objects rather than flat works on paper.
“Growing up, I collected photo keychains from family vacations. Making Riso keychains felt like a way to carry that same joy, but with my prints and collages.”
Working from her home studio, Herrera designed and printed every component herself using her Risograph printer. The front of each keychain features a collage drawn from her personal archive, while the reverse highlights the layered textures and patterns characteristic of Riso printing. The result is a small scale object that retains the bold colour, slight misregistration, and material charm of the process.
“I love how Riso prints are bold, colourful, and playful, and it was exciting to find ways to turn them into something you can hold, carry, and take with you everywhere. Making these miniature frames felt like a natural way to let people interact with prints in a new, tactile way.”
Placing the keychains in Good Things Vending machines allows the work to circulate beyond traditional gallery or shop settings. Encountered unexpectedly in public locations across Chicago, the objects invite casual discovery and impulse collecting. This mode of distribution aligns closely with Herrera’s broader practice, which often considers the home, memory, and everyday rituals as meaningful cultural sites.
Marylu E. Herrera is a Chicana collage, printmedia, craft, and fibre artist from Chicago. Her work explores the home as both a political and personal space, where celebration functions as a form of existence and resistance. She holds a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston at Tufts University and an MFA in Printmedia from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Herrera is a Lecturer in the Printmedia Department at SAIC and teaches Risography at Lillstreet Art Center. Her work has been exhibited widely and featured in publications including New York Magazine, Los Angeles Times, and Bitch Media.
By turning Risograph prints into pocket-sized objects, Herrera extends the language of printmaking into daily life. The keychains function not just as souvenirs, but as small acts of connection, linking memory, material, and movement through the city.
Artist links
Website
Instagram
Basurita Mail Club
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