The Printing Girls - #TPG/2020 Exhibition Catalogue by theprintinggirls

For all enquiries to buy an artwork, please contact The Art Room artroomparkhurst.co.za/contact/ Each artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement relates just to the work produced for this exhibition. For more info on individual artists, visit their pages on our website theprintinggirls.co.za 2

The Printing Girls (TPGs) are so excited to be The Art Room's first Level One lockdown exhibition. The TPGs are a collective of South African female printmakers, and this year we have more than doubled our membership base. This ongoing gathering strengthens our #PRINTLIKEAGIRL tagline and demonstrates just how popular printmaking has become as a medium among women artists in our country today. #TPG/2020 shows fresh work from this innovative group of over 30 artists, and includes many techniques from traditional etching, screenprint, and relief printing through to contemporary mixed media and digital print. With our women artists using so many different printmaking techniques, and needing to accommodate all their working ideas and subjects, we imposed only two exhibiting criteria - the paper must be 40 x 40 cm or less, and all should be mounted on boards of exactly 40 x 40 cm. This emphasises our democratic approach to exhibiting equality. Alongside their exhibition work, we asked each artist to create some smaller scale works (20 x 20cm) under the theme of Positive Escape - looking at any positive aspects of hard lockdown, or what helped them get through it. This is the second TPG exhibition with The Art Room, and builds on their 2019 #PRINTLIKEAGIRL exhibition. Sadly, due to Covid regulations, we won't be able to hold workshops throughout the exhibition duration this year.

Allison Klein The narratives in this work deal with grief and change, but also with the restoration of balance. The image of a captured gazelle is influenced by a carved Egyptian bowl (8th century BC). Gazelles were kept as pets by elite Egyptian women and were mummified and buried alongside their owner when she died. This bound creature serves as a vessel of rebirth in my images. The title Bound has a double meaning - humans may try to bind and control nature, but nature is bound to outlive us.

Bound i

Bound ii

2020 Linocut print Edition of 5 R2935 (unframed) R4135 (framed)

2020 Linocut print Edition of 5 R2935

Bound iii

Bound iv

2020 Linocut print Edition of 5 R2935

Amy Jane van den Bergh This body of work is inspired by images generated by a computer software called GAN (Generative Adversarial Network). After seeing hundreds of images of my own artwork, GAN generates a digital image as it ‘learns’ to mimic attributes of my work: brush strokes, colours, and composition. The first layer of these works is a halftone print of the image generated by GAN after it has sufficiently ‘learnt’ my artistic style. The top layer is my creative response to this artificial image. They are printed on handmade paper produced from discarded test-prints, sketches, and notes found in my studio. This paper metaphorically references how GANs work: just as the paper is made up of innumerable physical pieces of my discarded work, so the digital GAN images are made up of innumerable digital pieces (pixels) of my artwork. 6

Imagined Landscape ii

Imagined Landscape xvii

2020 Silkscreen 1/1 R2000

Imagined Landscape v

Imagined Landscape xii

2020 Silkscreen 1/1 R2000

Ann Ludwig My imagery has been inspired by her love of literature, theatre, and art history. Reading R L Stevensonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Travels with a Donkey some time ago sowed the seeds for a series of art works which had a donkey as the main character of a journey through episodes in literature. The work of artists such as Rousseau, Franz Marc, Gauguin, and Egyptian friezes also informs my own artworks.

Zarina I

Zarina II

Zarina III

2020 Silkscreen 1/1 R2935 (unframed) R3835 (framed)

2020 Silkscreen 1/1 R2935

The Dreamer 2020 Linocut Edition of 4 R600

Conversation 2020 Linocut Edition of 4 R1870

Jungle Cat 2020 Monotype 1/1 R2650

Baobab in Pink 2020 Silkscreen Edition of 4 R2670

Claire Zinn

My Velvet Wings series was made in the months before the pandemic but has since become a very poignant symbol of this catastrophe for me. The wasp nest hangs outside my front door and was always rather small â&#x20AC;Ś until it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. The wasps never caused any issues, and I became quite fond of them; I thought of them as my little guards. And then the pandemic hit and the shape of them on their nest resembled the picture we were given of the virus. Everything that was potentially dangerous about my nest could be mirrored in the virus. While this all could be construed as only negative, many positives have also come from this for me. These black, white, and grey artworks reflect my desire not only to see the devastation, but the new possibilities that will be waiting on the other side.

Velvet Wings I

Velvet Wings II

Velvet Wings III

2020 Reduction Linocut Edition of 6 R1920

Cloudia Rivett-Ca rna c My frog portrait series is an ode to myself and my connection to water and water-beings. Living in a landlocked city presents its difficulties in accessing the beautiful ocean I so desperately want to live by. However, the freshwater streams, dams and ponds always offer a substantial consolation prize. And in every body of water I find my beautiful frog companions, curious, gentle and able to adapt between land and water with ease. These frogs are a reminder to me of who I am, someone who loves water but someone who can adapt and survive while not being in it or near it.

Fabrizio 2020 Reduction Linocut Edition of 7 R3850 (unframed) R5450 (framed)

Block A 2020 Linocut Edition of /7 R1800 Individual Frog portraits Edition of 7 R800ea

Gus 2020 Linocut Edition of 10 R1350

Block B 2020 Linocut Edition of /7 R1800 Individual Frog portraits Edition of 7 R800ea

Emma Willems e My artmaking is underpinned by concepts and issues around displacement, place-making, and sense of place. I work in a wide range of techniques, formats, and materials, including largescale sculptural installations in which the motif of the boat is used as metaphor for the psychological processing of loss. In addition to experimenting with mixed media prints, photographic processes and digital collage, my printmaking often manifests in laboriously hand-made artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s books.

1. Bow Fragment I 2. Bow Fragment ii 3. Bow Fragment iii 4. Bow Fragment iv 5. Bow Fragment Revealed 2020 Edition of 5 Digital print on HahnemĂźhle All pieces R3735 (unframed) *Bow Fragment ii R6635 (framed)

Georgina Berens

Temporary, permeable structures and transient arrangements briefly hold their own against the elements and the passage of time. The pile of sticks or rough log fort are in no way hermetically sealed: light and air pass freely through them; and indeed, such structures only hold a child's attention for a limited period - childhood itself is a transitory state. These structures afford no permanent refuge and yet something about the creation of a temporary interior in an unpeopled wilderness is comforting to me.

Georgina Berens Stack I

Georgina Berens Stack II

Georgina Berens Stack III

2020 Drypoint with watercolour Edition of 4 R2000

Grace Moka la pa

My use of geometry coupled with ephemeral objects/ textures fascinates me because of the duality of the two forms. The two prints The Tomb and Multiple Dimensions have been created to give the illusion of a structure that leads the viewer to an unknown empty space/void. I created these using 2-dimensional pieces, layered over one another, to appear 3-dimensional, to give the illusion of a sense of depth of space. Since I wanted to play with texture and light, I used a very cool blue black to convey a depersonalised structure.

The Tomb

Multiple Dimension

2020 Monoprint 1/1 R2670 (unframed) R3770 (framed)

2020 Monoprint 1/1 R2670

Hannah Kempe I have found inspiration from the Minoan civilization of Crete, and am inspired mostly by its artifacts and buildings, along with the symbolism in both. I have focused on the Minotaur and the Snake goddess figures to try to contextualise their place in a contemporary world. Within my process, I explored unplanned free-flowing drawing while learning about Minoan history and practices. Power Labyrinth uses the myth of the Minotaur to express a current state of chaos and power within cities and governments. A mythical beast, half-man and half-bull, the Minotaur was considered a monster that devoured humans, and was contained in a specially built labyrinth. The labyrinth is a maze where one must navigate a way out - although in modern life these traps are often self-inflicted. I use the Minotaur and bull leaper to symbolise the violent animalistic nature inherent in mankind. Seed of the earth is inspired by the Snake Goddess, also known as the household goddess, and who is connected with domesticity and the great mother archetype. The snake represents the underworld and the renewal of life (rebirth), creating a tribute to the women affected by femicide, and guiding them with protection in the afterlife. Woman is associated closely with the creation myth and the birth of consciousness.

Power Labyrinth

Seed of the Earth

2020 Linocut Edition of 10 R1600

Linocut Edition of 10 R1600

Heidi Mielke

These artworks are a continuation of my ongoing series Somethingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fishy, in which I explore and study creatures from the ocean. These studies allow me the space to reflect on past and present characters and situations within my life in a humorous yet serious manner.

Ouch!

Say Cheeeeese!

2020 Linocut Edition of 5 R1600

JosĂŠ Vermeij

My printmaking practice often deals with the narratives of home and implications of moving. I like to work with photographs and explore embossing and cut outs to emphasize layering in the concept. The recent work in this exhibition refers to observations around unwanted social distance caused by the COVID pandemic during a phase of the loss of someone very close to me.

Threads of Life - Last Dance

Threads of Life - Lost Home

Threads of Life - No Words Left

2020

Mixed media

Monotype

R2535

R3835 (framed

Kim-Lee Loggenberg

Although I have worked as a collaborative printmaker for 7 years , Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve only just started to create my own print work and explore my creativity. My art is based on observations of life, feelings, and pure curiosity. My artistic practice involves delicate intaglio etching and drypoint prints and monotypes. Currently, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m exploring the relationships between people, especially in the midst of Covid-regulated interactions.

Oupa en Ouma

Embrace

Mama

2020 Watercolour Monotype 1/1 R1135

2020 Watercolour Monotype 1/1 R1000

Korien Sander In the absence of a formal art education, my current practice is to learn by experimenting. These works are attempts to make sense of and find meaning in the disruptions which the COVID-19 crisis has brought about in the private and public spaces and places I inhabit. The works reference images, ubiquitous in physical and virtual spaces, as well as deeply personal symbols.

Breathe No Evil

Jobâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tears

2020 Monotype 1/1 R1070

2020 Mixed media 1/1 R1335

Rainbow 2020 Silkscreen Edition of 12 R1070

Kristen McClarty My printmaking practice focuses on relief and dry point intaglio. My interest lies in unseen moments, overlapping time and simultaneous views, and I enjoy experimenting with alternative surfaces, transparency, and mixed techniques. The Perspective series is an exploration of abstract surface designs based on the pattern of rural life seen from a distance. They deal with the idea that separation from a situation, without the overstimulation of the minutiae of domesticity and outside influence, allows for a reconsideration of attitudes and points of view. The series speaks of a space where the viewer is disconnected from the usual stimulus of life. No longer fed thoughts, instructions, and directions from society, she is allowed once again to find her own path, based on the instinct and intuition that nature and life experience provide. 32

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

At the fork turn left towards the dry stream If you reach the river you have gone too far Pass the big tree with the broken branch Take the path through the Orchard Walk along the road with the field on your right

2020 All editions of 5 Reduction Linocut R2550

Laurel Holmes The printmaking media I work with are mainly monotype and collagraph, and some drypoint and etching. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always been fascinated by the shadows created by light, and my recent works continue to explore the form and shape of flora in the natural world: the way they grow, disperse their seed, and shrivel. Laurel finds incredible and metaphorical beauty in the spent shape.

1. 2. 3.

Obscured IV Obscured V Visceral III

4. 5.

Visceral IV EV 1/5 Visceral IV EV 2/5

2020 1/1 Monoprint

R2600 R2600 R2600 (unframed) R4600 (framed) R2100 R2100

Lebogang Mogul Mabusela In my work I explore the doily, also known as a placemat. I have seen doilies used as ornaments and centrepieces in our homes, and we know that women made and designed them. These objects are associated with an economy, to buttress systems in the community and to sell. Doilies are also a symbol of respectability, gender norms, cleanliness, perfection and a maintenance of joy and servitude. These beautiful works of art/crafts that make me go wow, are so sinister to me. However, in my work I interrogate the gendered object using the monotype process with mass-produced Taiwanese vinyl lace doilies that I buy from the Oriental Plaza. Here, the doily stands for the body of a killjoy feminist, a wilful woman, yet also just a flawed normal human being. These works speak to what happens when a killjoy doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t act right, and they start calling out patriarchy and racism in spaces of happiness, like the dinner tables, movies, songs, or even in the fucking workplace. As part of my killjoy doilies exploration, these monotypes - where I print and emboss small corners of the vinyl doilies - represent what you get or gain when you don't killjoy, when you sit right in "your place" or when you fight to convince others that, no ... you are not wilful. This (simple) little beautiful embossed corner or space is what we get ...

Tug 2 2020 Embossed monotype 1/1 R 1070

Tug 4 2020 Embossed monotype 1/1 R 1070

Tug 6

Tug 7

2020 Embossed monotype 1/1 R 1070

Leonora Venter

In my work, I explore aspects of social realities and the dichotomy of freedom versus captivity - often using displaced, discarded, or damaged elements of nature. These natural elements represent human discomfort, displacement, and transformation. I work mostly on paper (using pen and ink, pencil, charcoal, and watercolour). I enjoy the technical challenges presented by the fine art printing process and use a variety of printing techniques, including etching, drypoint, aquatint, linoprint and monoprint. These techniques allow me to achieve intense linework combined with a variety of tones and textures.

At Least We Are Free

Out of Place

2020 Aquatint and drypoint Edition of 10 R1870

2020 Aquatint, drypoint and silkscreen Edition of 10 R1870 (unframed) R2670 (framed)

Lisa Cloete These four images each explore our human and feminine relationship to water in some manner. From the very beginning of time as star dust, nothing but gas with eternal potentiality. To our evolution from ocean animal to land animal, from in utero in the placenta to birth. It looks at our relationships as being a part of water, to water being a part of us and to water giving and taking life and then of course our modern day relationship to water which is far more based on it as something separate to us, an external resource rather than part of our physical makeup . The images show how far from the ocean we have become and echoes our faint longing to return there, as well as the fear and obsession we have with water and the ocean.

Untitled 1

Star Birth

2020 Monotype 1/1 R2670

Mandy Conida ris These two simple works come out of years of lived influences. Olive trees have a strong presence in my life, reflecting my love of Greece, the physicality of its land, and the mystery of its mythology. When each of my granddaughters was born, I planted an olive tree in my garden. This year, having to leave my home, one of my greatest sorrows was to walk away from these three trees. I would visit them daily, in full noon and at night, and always took pleasure at their shifting beauty. Another passion of mine is for patterning, and this linocut was stylistically inspired by Ancient Greek vase patterns. And yet another passion – poetry. But here, the tale of the Celtic God of Love in William Yeats’ The Song of the Wandering Aengus where the final two lines are so beautiful: the silver apples of the moon … the golden apples of the sun … 42

The Silver Olives of the Moon

The Golden Olives of the Sun

2020 Linocut Edition of 4 R670

Marelise van Wyk I am addicted to all printmaking. I enjoy experimenting with new techniques and try to challenge the medium as much as I can. My creative process is inspired by the cycle of life and the evidence of the passing of time â&#x20AC;&#x201C; extinctions developing into new creations decaying into extinctions again. My imagery includes historical structures, organic objects, and textures that are formed by erosion, corrosion, and disintegration in nature. I react to issues in society by reference to the inter-connectivity of past and present and the re-invention of history over time. Lately, I use ready-made prints as a medium to create layered print collages. Here, I attempt a reaction to gender stereotypes that are still prevalent in society today. Despite the constant revising and re-writing of historical influences, the challenging circumstances of many women in the modern world have not yet changed. We find women often continue to live and work in conditions of servitude and oppression.

I use the feather duster as metaphor for female oppression â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it is still perceived as a domestic device used only by women/servants. The incongruity of where one personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s discomfort creates the comfort of another is a generally accepted state-of-affairs in many societies.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

At your service. Blushing Brides Dust 2 Duster Line-up Duster March

2020 1/1 Mixed Media

R2400 R1600 R1600 R2400 R2400 (unframed) R3800 (framed)

Mariette Momberg Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always been passionate about womxnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s empowerment. My work is heavily influenced by this issue and by my socio-political views; and is often represented from a feminist vantage point with a pinch of humour thrown in for good measure. Currently my art practice centres predominantly around printmaking. The environment is important to me, and I feel strongly that creative efforts should make a conscious effort to minimise their ecological impact. For this reason, I use water-based mediums in her art making and strives to maintain a low-toxic and environmentally considerate studio.

Connectoxity

Moederloos

2020 Multiple block linocut Edition of 20 R1600

2020 Multiple block linocut Edition of 20 R1600 (unframed) R2900 (framed)

Drowning in my thoughts 2

Digital Dissemination of Self

2020 Reduction linocut Edition of 5 PRICE R2135

2020 Linocut collage paper sculpture R2400

Natasha Norman My work is inspired by my experiences of the natural world. The manifestation of the shifting layers and planes of marks and tones in my work shows an elementary, sensory memory of place. Although I trained in traditional Western relief and intaglio methods, I also attended residencies in Japan training in the Japanese water-based relief print method called Mokuhanga. This has imbued my artistic subjectivity with Shinto and Zen philosophies concerning the relationship between humans and nature. My imagery combines this with a reflexive interest in the material and technical challenges of print.

Suspension

2020 Mokuhanga woodblock Edition of 8 R2500

Neeske Alexa nder

I create using relief printing, watercolour painting, oil painting, silkscreen, pen illustration and sometimes a combination of these. My work follows a multidisciplinary approach and includes methods such as drawing from life, conceptual thinking, and practice-led techniques. I experiment with different materials to explore themes of nature, narrative, feminism, and public space; and my style is nuanced and diverse, with some poetic elements.

Catling, Multiple block woodcut, edition of 20 R1470 (unframed) R2770 (framed)

Crossing, linocut and watercolour, edition of 50 EV, R935

In it together, linocut and watercolour, edition of 50 EV, R 1200

Andrea, linocut, edition of 10, R1070

In my motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shoes, linocut, edition of 20, R1335

Nellien Brewer Several years ago I became interested in the complexity of natural systems, especially those that often go unnoticed - such as termite colonies, lichen, coral, etc. At the same time, I started exploring the two dominant worldviews of today â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the theories of evolution versus creation. My explorations and art experiments eventually led me to start working with text as a metaphor for the design code underlying every natural system. Digital printing allows for an intricacy impossible to achieve by hand, and I often combine digital printing with traditional printing methods. More recently, I became aware of the incredible complexity of the bits and pieces along the high-water mark, discarded by the ocean. They reminded me of the people in our society who are so often ignored and overlooked; yet each one is unique and exquisitely created. 52

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Flotsam and Jetsam 3 Flotsam and Jetsam 7 Flotsam and Jetsam 8 Flotsam and Jetsam 10 Flotsam and Jetsam 13

2020 Embossing on digital print Edition of 10 R670

Noeleen Kleve

The unhealthy ramifications of the viral invasion induced an acute liminal or in-between state. Anxiety, uncertainty, vulnerability; suspension of activity and purpose; a nationwide and even global economic â&#x20AC;Ś pause. During lockdown I experienced the confinement of my urban space and yearned for the healing and rejuvenation of being immersed in nature; while concurrently being mindful that nature itself had a chance to regenerate and heal during this window, directly due to the absence of human interference. We were visited nightly by a mating pair of owls, daily by baboons in our garden, and noticed the sounds of nature and the clarity of the sky. While economic activity was inhibited and social engagement denied, I looked out from my entrapped delimitation, photographed the negative spaces between rooftops, walls and windows, and imagined all of nature thriving in our absence. These monoprints and etchings are an expression of this lived experience â&#x20AC;&#x201C; using fynbos (our local flora) as a symbol of natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inherent capacity for regeneration, offset against architectural imagery alluding to human interference.

Field of vision 2020 Etching Edition of 10 E.V. R2070 (unframed) R2870 (framed)

Frame of Mind

Introspection

Elixir

2020 Etching Edition of 10 E.V. R1335

2020 Monoprint Edition of 10 R2100

2020 Monoprint Edition of 10 R2000

Point of View 2020 Etching Edition of 10 E.V. R1335

Purnaa Deb Growing up in Kolkata, India, I moved to Johannesburg in 2015 and began practicing art. Recently I printed blind embossings onto paper which imitated ceramic dinner plates. I started to add layers of ink and pencil drawings of images that I found on social media through this time of global pandemic. These images led me to question society, its politics, class system, comfort, tension, and uneasiness. Eating or being served food on a ceramic plate has the hierarchical sense of the colonial hangover from my country India, where I belong. With uncertainty, I try to integrate my ordinary belongings with my artmaking: the quilt stitches on the background of the plate, or the mat weaving with found birthday ribbons, or the texts to my Maa about the Bengali shop keeper of Fordsburg who migrated here from Bangladesh long ago.

From Banglaa-Bazaar @ Fordsburg

The Midday-Meal

Comforting

2020 Mixed Media 1/1 R2000 (unframed) R3700 (framed)

2020 Mixed Media 1/1 R2000

2020 Etching 1/1 R2000

Renee Johannes

The Tondo Series is my current work, tondo being a Renaissance term for a circular work of art. My tondo monotype prints relate to transposition (inversion and substitution) and states of mind. Although these abstract works seem to represent the intangible, a specific state of mind is suggested through each title.

Sangfroid

Sangfroid 2

2020 Aquarelle Monoprint 1/1 R1335

2020 Aquarelle monoprint 1/1 R 1335

Roxy Kaczmarek

The smell of smoke paired with plumes billowing over the city and hills is a common sight throughout the Joburg winter. The crisp air and frost dry up grasses and wipe out intolerant vegetation. Fires start - many are intentional to clear overgrowth, while some are accidental. All result in destruction and areas of blackened crunch. And then, suddenly from the blackness, with the right amount of warmth and a sprinkle of rain, bright shoots of green start up again. Quicker and faster than the areas that were not affected, roots send up new leaves once again. How similar are we? My works focus on the sensibilities and relationship between people and nature. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve developed a fascination with the separation and closeness created within our lived environments and our attempts to carefully package our surroundings whilst we revel in the world's wildness. Land and seascapes fascinate and captivate my imagination. As keen gardener, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m inspired by the resilient ability of plants to grow anywhere.

Fire and Smoke 1

Fire and Smoke 2

2020 Silkscreen monotype/linocut/hand painting Edition of 5 E.V. R800

Silkscreen monotype/linocut/hand painting Edition of 5 E.V. R800

Sarah Judge

My artmaking process occurs as I explore the city of Johannesburg with conscious awareness, engaging with its buildings, their power relations and environs, discovering unfamiliar spaces alongside my daily travelled places. My images reference photographs that I digitally edit and distort until satisfied with the outcome. This is my way of questioning space, deconstructing, and reconstructing; and how I attempt to convey particular emotions and feelings through my prints.

Bloom in Warmth I

Bloom in Warmth II

Bloom in Warmth III

Bloom in Warmth IV

Gaze in Admiration

2020 Linocut with hand painting 1/1 R1670

2020 Drypoint with hand painting Edition of 6 E.V. R670

Yolanda Warnich

As an artist who mostly works out in the field, being locked in meant I had to seriously refocus. At the start of lockdown, I spent some time clearing out my studio, resulting in rediscovering objects and materials I collected over the past years from traveling through Southern Africa: charcoal dating from 2015 from a veld fire in Riebeeck Kasteel, stone sediment and rocks collected from various visits to the Orange river and sands from the Kalahari. These â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;findingsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; became the catalyst for creating this body of work.

Dreams feeling like Rain

Fill your pockets with Earth

Meet me out for some Fresh Air

2020 Monotype 1/1 R2535 (unframed) R3635 (framed)

2020 Monotype 1/1 R2535

2020 Monotype 1/1 R3335