Print Talks and Demos
Come along and gain an insight into contemporary printmaking in Aotearoa and beyond.
The Talks provide a space to engage in important discussions surrounding print theory, practice and research. The Demos provide the opportunity to learn about a particular artist’s approach to a specific printmaking technique, getting tips directly from the artist about materials, equipment, and process. See our full programme below.
Note: This is a seated event, where you can listen, take notes, and ask questions. All talks and demos are free, no need to register, although make sure you arrive early to get a seat!
Saturday 4 May
Keynote |Jenny Robinson| Open Access Print Studios: Why They Matter
Keynote | Jenny Robinson| Open Access Print Studios: Why They Matter
Saturday 4 May, 10:15am –11am | Free | Opanuku Studio
In her presentation, Jenny Robinson will discuss the effects that moving countries three times in five years had on her studio practice and the unique challenges she faced establishing a print studio on a new continent where she had few prior connections, all while her long-term career has been predominantly in the United States.
She will highlight the positive influences that working in an open access studio for twenty years has had on both her work and her material choices, and how engaging with artists from diverse backgrounds has enriched her understanding of global print practices.
Finally, she will reveal her exciting plans for the Jenny Robinson Print Studio, a new print atelier in central Sydney, which will be a hub for experimental, nontoxic printmaking, intensive master class workshops, a project room and access to the largest American French tool press in the southern hemisphere.
About Jenny Robinson:
Jenny Robinson has been a professional artist and Master Printmaker for the past 40 years, based in London, San Francisco and now Sydney where she is set to open the doors to Sydney’s newest Open-Access Print Atelier in early 2024. The studio features the largest American French Tool press in the southern hemisphere for visiting artists to use to push the boundaries in printmaking. Read More
Laura Crehuet Berman| Connecting Material, Physical, and Conceptual Space through Printmaking.
Saturday 4 May, 11:30am – 12:15pm | Free | Opanuku Studio
Berman’s work is grounded in earth science and the body and the inner and outer workings of each. Focusing on colour and the building of relationships through abstracted forms, iteration is at the heart of her practice. Through printed layers and physical pattern-building, Berman’s images build narratives about the connections between time, labour, play, and discovery.
In her presentation at the Printopia Festival, Berman will share how the printing processes and materials she uses point directly to her interest in geology and how expansive formations on the earth can be made by small actions over an immense amount of time. In addition, Berman will share her research as a current Fulbright Scholar at the University of Canberra on the material and cultural study of colour through the lens of contemporary printmaking.
About Laura Crehuet Berman:
Laura Crehuet Berman creates images inspired by the natural world that layer time, space, form and colour together. She has exhibited in over 150 exhibitions at galleries and museums internationally and her prints are widely collected. Berman’s work has been featured in the books Colour Theory: A Critical Introduction (Fine/Bloomsbury Books, 2020), Contemporary American Printmakers (Standish, Rooney/Schiffer Publishing, 2014) and Printmaking at the Edge (Noyce/A&C Black, 2006).
She works with a number of fine print and commercial publishers and her work is represented by galleries: Weinberger Fine Art (Kansas City), Long View Gallery (Washington, D.C.), Olson-Larsen Gallery (Des Moines), and Uprise Art (New York City). Laura Berman is a Professor at the Kansas City Art Institute, where she has taught in the Printmaking Department since 2002. Currently, she is working as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Canberra (Australia).
website: https://www.lauracrehuetberman.com/
Instagram: @bermanlaura
Photo credit Lindsay Clipner.
Demo | Mark Alister Raymer | Pronto Plate
Saturday 4 May, 12:45pm –1:30pm| Free | Opanuku Studio
Viewers will learn the ins and outs of how to print from a pronto plate. Pronto plate offers an accessible approach to lithography. The demo will show how both drawn and photographic imagery can be printed from the same plate to create a planographic print. Viewers will learn what materials are required and how they can possibly achieve this at home.
About Mark Alister Raymer:
Mark Alister Raymerwas born in Ōtautahi | Christchurch and raised in Texas where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of North Texas in 2009. After receiving a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Kansas in 2016 he has been teaching art at tertiary level, and is currently at Western Institute of Technology, Taranaki.
His active studio practice is pushed by the endless potential of print. “I approach my work using my matrixes the same way I would make a collage. I love to combine print processes to be able to see a visual dialog that addresses their different mark makings and histories.”
Website: www.markraymer.com
Instagram: @markalisterraymer
Note: Mark will be teaching two workshops on Pronto Plate at Printopia Festival on Sunday, 5 May. Spaces are limited, get your tickets at Eventfinda.co.nz
Demo | Stacey Hildreth | Wax Collagraphs
Saturday 4 May, 2:00pm –2:45pm | Free | Opanuku Studio
Join Stacey Hildreth from Whanganui as she shares her practice of creating collagraphs using Batik wax techniques, inspired by her three years in Phuket Thailand teaching Visual Art.
She will discuss her process of generating imagery and combining different print techniques while showing examples of her work. Learn how she creates a variety of different textures and patterns in the wax using a range of tools from everyday items to traditional canting.
See how Stacey applies additional colours to the background of her wax collagraph prints using monoprinting techniques. Get tips on the intricacies of registration, inking, and how to manage changes in the collagraph plate as the wax compresses.
About Stacey Hildreth:
Stacey Hildreth is an artist and educator form Whanganui. She teaches from her personal studio, Make a Mark Workshop, and across the country. After completing her degree in Visual Communications Design at Victoria University, and briefly working in the design industry, she went on to study and receive her Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching.
She has spent over 16 years as an Art and Design educator at Primary and Secondary level in New Zealand and Thailand, alongside being a practising artist. “I like to juxtapose intricate detail with abstract imagery. Starting with printmaking and blending in a variety of media and techniques.” Read More
Talk | Gabrielle Belz, Faith McManus, Alexis Neal, Vanessa Wairata-Edwards and Jasmine Horton | Toi Whakaata
Sunday 5 May, 10:15am –11:00am | Free | Opanuku Studio
Toi Whakaata artists Gabrielle Belz, Alexis Neal, Faith McManus, Vanessa Wairata-Edwards, and Jasmine Horton return to Printopia to share their korero about indigenous printmaking in Aotearoa, the Pacific and beyond.
Toi Whakaata explores the concept of whakawhanaungatanga. Relationships are key between indigenous groups. Here Toi Whakaata discuss the reciprocal relationships established and maintained over the years, including into Australia, across the Pacific, America and beyond.
About Toi Whakataa:
The Toi Whakataa Maori Printmakers Collective, whose name is based on the idea of introducing ink to mark making, was established in January of 2006 and emerged from a need to identify printmaking as a valid means of Maori artistic expression.
The collective brings together a dynamic new generation of printmakers that are committed to pushing new ideas in the practice. The word ‘Whakaata’ carries connotations of mirroring, of revealing to light, Toi is Art and Whakataa is to make an impression.
Instagram: @toiwhakaata
Talk | Steve Lovett | Print as Other(ing): Re-Reading John Currin’s 1996 Essay
Sunday 5 May, 11:30am –12:15pm | Free | Opanuku Studio
In Frieze Magazine in 1996 John Currin published his landmark essay reconsidering printmaking. Currin reads printmaking in reference to formal definitions of visual culture that rely on formalist readings of culture. Formalist readings tend to avoid the social dimensions of printmakers.
Without refuting Currin’s reappraisal of printmaking I will demonstrate the ways in which Currin does not consider the social experiences and practical realities facing artists who employ printmaking as the primary method of making work and the methodology driving their work.
There is much tea to be spilled in the presentation.
I mean:
How many refusal letters have you received to your print proposals?
How many slights and dismissals have you received for your work?
I wish I had kept all the letters stating: “We don’t show that kind of work”.
In the presentation at Printopia 3 there is the role of language used to define printmaking to dissect, for it is the language used to describe and position printmaking that we can see the othering of print and printmakers. Language frames pedagogy, institutional policy governing curatorial practices. Read More
Demo | Brie Rate | Approaches to Contemporary Papermaking
Sunday 5 May, 12:45pm –1:30pm | Free | Opanuku Studio
Brie Rate will share her approach to papermaking, placing it in the historical context of the practice and in present day considerations relating to urban ecologies and the natural environment.
She will demonstrate how to turn organic and manufactured material into pulp, give tips and tricks on how to pull a sheet of paper and how to extend this through a variety of pulp printing techniques including freehand application, stencilling, embedding and embellishments.
About Brie Rate:
Brie is an Auckland based multi-media artist specialising in drawing, printmaking, papermaking and writing. Her work takes inspiration from the natural world, employing found and foraged materials coupled with close observation. Her work often explores green spaces in urban environments, investigating mental health, feelings of connection and questions of ecological stability. Brie has taught children and young-adult art classes in both New Zealand and America and is passionate about sharing skills to promote accessibility in the art world.
Instagram: @eirbeirb
Demo| Celia Walker | Printing with Carborundum
Sunday 5 May, 2:00pm –2:45pm | Free | Opanuku Studio
Carborundum can be used in printmaking to create deep blacks and varied tones that have a similar effect to traditional aquatint but without the use of toxic materials. Carborundum can be incorporated into drypoint or collagraph plates to intensify the tonal range. Application methods using gels and pastes mean it can create a painterly effect that is quite free and can be done on a large scale without need for specialist equipment.
Learn the methods of application, masking techniques, and ways of varying the tones. They will also learn how to use carborundum with other products to create textural effects.
About Celia Walker:
Celia is a printmaker from Devonport, Auckland. Her printmaking practice is informed by ideas around altered landscapes and environmental change, and the physical ways of experiencing place. With a PhD in Art History about colonial landscapes, maps, and travel: this research background also tends to influence her work.
Celia has coordinated several printmaking projects and exhibitions, and has participated in international selected print exhibitions and exchanges. She uses collagraph, monotype and relief techniques to create unique-state prints.
Instagram: @celiawalkerprint Read More