Printing the EcoGothic: Intaglio Landscapes
| Location | Leicester Print Workshop |
|---|---|
| Date & Time | Tuesday 31st October - Tuesday 5th December 2023 6.00pm - 9.00pm |
| Experience | Beginner / Intermediate |
| Tutor | Robyn Maclennan |
Join printmaker and researcher Robyn Maclennan in this brand new course exploring her research into EcoGothic landscapes. The ecoGothic is a way of reinterpreting the relationship between humans and nature focusing on ideas of agency, darkness and time. By looking into both the fear of nature and fear for nature ever present in our lives it tries to re-enchant the landscape at a time of great peril through climate change. It has strong connections to folklore and theories of the sublime as explored by romantic artists of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Over six weeks participants will have the opportunity to work experimentally with the landscape whilst learning multiple different Intaglio techniques. This course will cover the use of traditional hard and soft grounds, solar plate, a la poupée and chine collé to produce multi-layered and exciting prints. Hard and soft grounds are methods of acid resist, used to produce both drawn images and textural marks. Solar plate or photopolymer is an acid free way of reproducing photographs, drawn images and found objects onto printable plates.
This course is great for those already working in intaglio who wish to further develop their ideas and work more experimentally but can also be taken by someone new to printmaking as each technique will be covered thoroughly.
Course Structure
Week 1 – Participants will be introduced to the tutor’s research into EcoGothic landscapes and will discuss what we intend to achieve over the 6 weeks. The first technique we will look at is solar plates and using them to print photographs.
Week 2 – We will continue working with solar plates, using a la poupée inking and chine collé techniques to explore colour and material.
Week 3 – This week we will introduce hard ground etching for both drawing into and collecting marks from the landscape.
Week 4 – Building on our skills in etching we will work with soft grounds to take impressions from natural materials as a form of sympoiesis (working with the landscape).
Week 5 – In this week we will discuss multiplate printing and how to combine images and techniques. Participants will have the opportunity to make new plates using any of the techniques previously explored.
Week 6 – This week will be all about completing a small edition of works of the participant’s choice using any of the plates made throughout the course.
Each week, participants will be encouraged to produce drawings or collect photographs which can be used in the following session.
About the Tutor
Robyn Maclennan joined Leicester Print Workshop as part of the technician team at the end of 2021, specialising in etching and photographic techniques. She uses multiple printmaking and photography processes to explore the landscape and our connections to it. Robyn holds an MA in Fine Art and is currently undertaking a PhD at London College of Communication where she is researching how ecoGothic theory can be used to re-examine our relationship with nature and how fear has permeated our perceptions of the non-human world. She is particularly interested in the links between the darkness found in the ecoGothic and the necessity of darkness to her photography and printmaking practice as well as how understanding the agency of both the natural world and the works she produces can grant us a better understanding of the world around us. She has exhibited across the UK with highlights including the ‘Withheld’ exhibition in London (2022), the Derby Print Open (2023) and being featured in Somewhere in Between’s 2021 zine ‘Hmmm…Photography and Printmaking'. You can find more of Robyn’s work here: www.robynmaclennan.com
Leicester Print Workshop
Leicester Print Workshop is the regional development centre for printmaking. Established by artists in 1986, we are a registered charity, supported by Arts Council England. Our RIBA award-winning building is situated in Leicester City Centre's Cultural Quarter and is home to a large, well equipped open access Printmaking Studio.
We have over 30 years’ experience of teaching people printmaking. Our programme offers the largest number and broadest range of printmaking courses in the region, with courses suitable for beginners as well as experienced printmakers, delivered by practicing artists and nationally renowned tutors. Participants learn in small and friendly groups in our purpose-designed studio.
Bookings
Online: You can book online here by credit / debit card or Paypal.
Telephone: You can pay by card over the phone during our opening hours (Tuesday - Saturday, 10am - 5pm). Call us on 0116 251 4174.
In person: Call in to Leicester Print Workshop during our opening hours (Tuesday - Saturday, 10am - 5pm) to book and pay by card, cash or cheque.
Pre-course information: We will send you details of how to find us and what to bring with you when we process your booking.
Concessions
Full-Print Members of Leicester Print Workshop are entitled to a 10% discount on our inhouse courses. Interested in joining LPW as a member? Click here for more information.