EXHIBIT - Print Stuff

PRINT COMMUNITY

I paid a visit to the lovely print stuff in York this weekend. There were so many great print-makers and illustrators there, a super inspiring bunch. It was great to see such a high level of professional illustrators and interesting that print fairs such as this, inform such an integral part of their professional and commercial practice. Already a fan of Louise Lockhart, I was interested to see her work in a more community based outlet, rather than in the larger bookshops I have seen her work in previously. The print fair seemed like a suitable outlet for the artists to display a range of work in order to reveal something about the practice as a whole, something which I feel is difficult to identify when you seen just single prints or books in shops. 

The print fair seemed like a great networking opportunity for many of the artists there, with print-makers, presses and crafters exhibiting alongside each other, informing each others practice.

PARTICIPATION

I got involved by having some screen-prints on sale on the LCA stall. Having not created any personal print work this year, I chose to display some prints from my foundation final major project. While my practice may be developing, I had many prints prepared from a previous stall I had run and so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to display my work again. Contextually, the print fair seemed like a more appropriate outlet to display my work, with the audience perhaps being more like-minded than the community market I had previously sold at.

MARKO

From the fair I came away very inspired by the shape based work of Mark Wheatley. His prints explored very playful, delicate shapes within a range of textures. Abstract forms seemed key to most of his outcomes and I was particularly interested in the way Wheatley had characterised these abstract shapes through simple visual devices. Play is something I would like to develop in my own work in order to resonate with my interests in child-art and fun characters.