Xeroxia #4

Year: 1971

Format: Xerography Studies

Media: Paper

Technique(s): Xerography

Dimensions: 13 in. x 8 1/4 in.

Designer Overview
Esther “Esta” Nesbitt

November 19, 1918 - November 30, 1975

United States

Born Esther Feuerman, Esta was an illustrator, xerography artist, filmmaker, and educator in New York City. Nesbitt studied at the Traphagen School of Fashion and graduated in 1937 for Illustration that led her to her two-decade long career in fashion illustration. Esta’s work was featured in several major magazines and newspapers such as Seventeen, Harper’s Bazaar, Mademoiselle and the New York Times Magazine. She later continued her studies at Columbia University and New York University and later, from 1964 to 1974, Esta taught at Parsons School of Design.

Nesbitt’s contribution to graphic design was by being one of the first artists to create works utilizing Xerox photocopying machines. During the 1970s she began to seriously experiment with Xeroxes in their New York City company show room. Her xerography art research studies were sponsored by Xerox Coporation representatives such as Anibal Ambert and Merle English from 1971 to 1972. Through manipulation of the machines, materials and techniques, Nesbitt invented three xerography techniques known as transcapsa, photo-transcapsa, and chromacapsa. Nesbitt’s uses of xerography ranged from paper prints to filmmaking.