Pressing Matters #36

Pressing Matters #36

Nostalgia, joy, melancholy, big feelings, moments of lightness – printmaking has a way of capturing the things we cannot touch and it’s evident that our featured artists are happy to let their materials show them the way to illustrate these feelings and emotions – slowing down and taking time to look carefully at their work and the world around them. Their choices of how ink sits on paper, the subtle mix of colours and the space between shapes all add up to a visual language they call their own. 

Consider Lisa Takahashi’s modern take on Hokusai’s Mount Fuji series, for example – a print that is made using the same medium and of the same mountain, but with a twist that includes her own journey, heritage and relationship with the artist. It’s great to see Blaise Drummond’s energetic sketches in his article – proof, if you need it, that the simplest of drawings can lead to the finest of prints. To quote illustrator Nathaniel Russell, “I think of printmaking as a guitar pedal – if my drawing is the song or the notes on a guitar, the printmaking process is the filter through which I lose control and become more than I am.”

About Pressing Matters:

Pressing Matters is a quarterly magazine that is made by printmakers for printmakers. Pressing Matters speaks to artists about their creative processes and passion for print. Expect inky fingers, creative workspaces, sketchbooks and prints made using all kinds of techniques and mediums.