Print Club News / Summer 2024
I seem to be a little stuck of late. Not sure why. There’s a lot going on here, but much of it is effectively producing existing works for clients who want an edition for their home or workplace. In theory this is great, debatably what I’ve been working towards all these years. But it’s also blocking the studio a little, and my time to make new work is being reduced. It’s probably a good problem to have.
So. what to do. Not sure at the moment. Play through maybe! I’ve cancelled my booking for Spike Print Studio, which was going to be this Wednesday and Thursday, and moved it to the same days next week. I was hoping to complete the next club editions this week, but maybe next is just as good. Be nice to be ahead of the Solstice.
I have two small Photopolymer plates that I’m working with. Both are looking very promising I think. There’s a lot to learn here, but in essence I think I can pull off two short editions from these studies, and send them out to you as Print Club editions.
I’m interested to use the Chine Collé technique with both. I’ve bought some Kozo paper, from Intaglio Printmakers in Southwark which I visited a few weeks back, and a beautiful Japanese Hake brush to apply the glue. Chine Collé involves adding a thin layer of tinted paper between the inked plate and the base paper, effectively creating a tinted look to the artwork that brings it into sharp relief on the base sheet, which in this case will be Somerset. So it’s really all about finding a couple of uninterrupted days to master the editioning. How hard can that be!
3 phase entropy
I’m also working on a new edition, working title 3 phase entropy. I’m acutely aware that there’s a risk of repeating, and although I enjoy making the studies, I also want to engage more emotionally and intellectually with the practice, and see what happens when I do. I went to a Richard Long talk a week or two back, in fact I’ve been to many many talks by artists who seem to be lost in their process and practice, but seem disengaged from any sense of what the purpose of their endeavours may be. There’s a a risk of getting lost in the process, and losing critical engagement with the viewer. I feel as though we stand in triangulation, the work, the author and the viewer, and occasionally there’s the added complexity of the dealer. Our club circumvents that of course.
So what to do. I’ve been thinking about the idea of moving to a more minimal way of being. I like the idea of just being, lost in the moment, unfettered. Not sure if that’s really possible, but maybe it’s something to explore. Some of the thinking comes from time spent in therapy, and time spent meditating, and of course time spent in nature. Is there a way of expressing the complexity of where I stand visually. I think maybe so. But you have to trust the visual language, it has its own energy, separate and distinct from writing.
Three state entropy takes on the idea of producing three new works, in dialogue with each other. One is a photo print of the mantelpiece in my sitting room, a space laid out in a largely formal way. The second is a photo print of my kitchen dresser. A space combining artefacts from my time spent as a parent, peppered with things my kids have made and littered throughout our intertwined lives. The third work is a sequence of 3 lines, painted out, and printed as overlaying inks in three separate passes, which introduces the idea of misregistration. Three threads that bind these disparate but parallel elements together, the formal, the informal and the line, the vector. I’m hoping to make all 3 as free standing folded drums, to stand together in some kind of cluster.
I visited Wisley recently on the way home from a friend’s party in Worthing. We stumbled across an amazing show of Bonsai trees in the new hilltop space there. Each beautifully displayed as part of a three part scene. I hadn’t previously understood that each tree is just one element in a set tableau, each standing alongside a hanging pendant painting, and a third element, often a rock, that aligns with the movement in the tree. It all made perfect sense to me. Some of the trees were fifty years old, grown from seed by men in their youth who are now reaching deep into old age. Growing and distorting together.
A few images from the garden this week...
The garden here is coming into bloom in the most delicious way. It's always amazing to see nature in full flow at thiis time of year, I find it totally mesmerising...
I'll look forward to being in touch again soon, hopefully with news that the next editions are in the post. In the meantime, wishing you all the best for the summer...
Chuck Elliott
If you’d like to receive three or four exclusive new editions in the post each year, alongside personal news and views from the studio, and invitations to shows and fairs, please do consider becoming a member of my Experimental Print Club. You can join or leave the club at any time, with absolutely no obligation to stay any longer than you want to.
New works are sent out somewhat sporadically throughout the year, often in line with the changing seasons. Each piece is unique, exclusive, and only available on the day it’s editioned, the size of the edition being determined by the number of members on the day.
I hope the club presents a more personal and intriguing way to connect with the studio, by creating a platform for collecting engaging new works for your home. The club is hosted online here, and I send out fairly regular blog posts and emails about the work too. I’d like to think that it’s an interesting proposition!
Membership is currently priced at £36 per month inc. UK delivery, or £42 for an international address.
