Impressions

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Impressions

19th March to 16th April

Original Prints from the Swansea Print Workshop These prints have been especially selected by our curator in tandem with the directors of the SPW, to show both traditional and contemporary forms of printmaking. The emphasis is on original, hand made, limited edition prints ranging including linocut, woodcut, wood engraving, screenprinting, etching, aquatint, drypoint, collagraph and cyanotype. In addition photographic and digital facilities that contribute to printmaking processes such as photoscreenprint and photoetch.

Swansea Print Workshop is an artist run initiative, whose members extend throughout Wales and beyond. It is a centre of excellence for fine art printmaking facilities and workshops in South Wales. This exhibition is a great opportunity to appreciate the fine art of printmaking, and aquire your own original limited edition prints.

What is an “Original Print”?

An original print is a print which is deliberately conceived as a work of art using printmaking media. A copy of another work of art such as a watercolour or charcoal drawing, on the other hand, is a reproduction. No matter which printmaking process is used to make this copy, the resulting print is a reproduction, not an original print. Often such reproductions are signed and described as ‘limited edition prints’, even though the edition may be very high in number.

In the words of S.W.Hayter, (a renowned printmaker of the 20th century, who founded Atelier 17 in Paris), printmaking is “the media of original expression in which the print is the result, and there is no other original, nor could any other medium have given the same expression”. The artist may make his or her own prints, or employ an experienced printmaker to do this. Either way, the artist is responsible for the image and must endorse the final prints.

Printmaking Processes

There are many printmaking processes, which may be used singly or together. A brief summary follows. For more details please refer to : www.swanseaprintworkshop.org.uk/printmakingprocesses

Collagraph. the term collagraph is thought to originate in collage. It is the technique of sticking a variety of textural materials to a cardboard or wooden base. This can then inked and printed in intaglio or relief.

Digital print. An image that has been partly or wholly created digitally via a computer and printed by inkjet or laser jet. The printmaking industry has had to stay up to date with many innovations in printing in the past. The digital revolution is no different and there are many artists and printmakers who now use digital technology experimentally, in conjunction with traditional processes or on archival papers.

Engraving/wood engraving. one of the many types of intaglio printing. A clean line or dot is gouged with a steel burin to create minute and detailed work on either wood or metal. A metal plate engraving is printed “intaglio”, whereas a wood engraving is printed using the “relief” method.

Etching. This traditional technique uses corrosive acids to make lines in a metal plate. The plate is covered with an acid resist through which the artist draws a design, revealing the bare metal beneath. When the plate is immersed in an acid bath these lines will be etched into the plate.

Intaglio. This word derives from the Italian for cut into or incise. It refers to any print (etching, collagraph, drypoint, engraving) that has been printed in intaglio. That is by working inks into the recesses or incised areas of the plate and wiping ink away from the top surface. The image is printed under high pressure by forcing dampened paper into the plate's surface and thus bringing the paper into contact with the ink. An intaglio print can therefore always be recognised by its embossed image surface.

Lino Cut. A relief print carved into linoleum using similar tools as for a woodcut. The smooth even texture of lino allows for a smoother finish than a woodcut which often shows its grain. Lino can be warmed to make it softer to cut into.

Mixed media. A print or painting that uses several media, materials or processes.

Monoprint/Monotype. A form of printmaking that results in a unique, one-off print. A monotype is usually made by manipulating inks on a non-porous surface and as such it is the closest that printmaking gets to painting. It offers the printmaker a direct way to transfer an image from a plate and presents limitless potential to experiment with rich colour and mark making. Monotypes can be printed with or without a press and good results can be achieved using water-based inks. No printing plate or block remains after the completion of a monotype, whereas a monoprint is made from a printing matrix such as an etched plate or a lino cut. However the resulting unique print varies from any edition made from the same plate.

Relief. Any type of print (linocut. woodcut, collagraph) that is printed by applying ink with a roller over the very top, raised surface of the printing block. A relief print need not be printed in a press but can be burnished with a spoon to create enough pressure to yield a good print.

Screen Print. Also known as "silk screen" or "serigraphy", this method of printing utilises stencils mounted onto a tightly stretched mesh. When ink is pulled across the mesh with a squeegee it is forced through it onto paper or textiles beneath. Stencils can be made from paper, screen filler or photographic emulsion (see Photostencil above) applied or fixed to the screen. Screen inks can be acrylic based and water washable so are not toxic or fumey.

Woodcut. A relief print usually carved in the plank grain of a piece of wood. It is inked with a roller and printed, either with the press or by hand burnishing.

The works illustrated do not represent all of those on view at the exhibition, space permits us to show only a sample.

Please be informed that all of the images reproduced here may not be included in the exhibition.