“. . . the space for printmakers to learn and refine printmaking techniques through consistent practice.”
Western Australia’s Swan River, also known as Derbarl Yerrigan, has given its name to the Swan River Print Studio, founded in 2018 by a core group of printmakers.
Artist Jo Darvall acquired a large 1950’s etching press and set about finding a suitable location to house it. Home is now in a heritage listed building in the cultural precinct of Goolugatup Heathcote, on the south bank of the Swan River, where the group has flourished.
In 2021, an 1857 Columbian Press previously belonging to well-known printmaker, Katie Clemson, was added to the studio on permanent loan – both presses had to be dismantled and craned into the studio piece by piece and reassembled. Weighing two tonnes, the Columbian, originally used as a letterpress, operates like a giant stamp.
Courtesy the artists and Swan River Print Studio, Perth
The Swan River Print Studio is an artist-run initiative, with ten core printmaker members. Other printmakers regularly use the studio on a sessional basis for special projects, a diverse range of collaborative projects and open workshops run by studio members or visiting printmakers. The Studio is a vibrant hub that has hosted workshops by master printmaker Martin King (Australian Print Workshop), Francesco Geronazzo, formerly from the Academy of Fine Art, Bologna and now at Margaret River Printmaking, and Dr Monika Lukowska. These workshops provide skills’ development and also build strong connections and networks with other printmakers across Western Australia and Australia.
“At Swan River Print Studio,” says chair of the group, Darvall, “we have created this quite extraordinary working space where serious practice development can occur, and where printmakers have the facilities to challenge themselves, and challenge their practice. The studio provides the space for printmakers to learn and refine printmaking techniques through consistent practice.”
Members of the Studio engage in a wide range of traditional and experimental printmaking techniques, including various forms of etching (copper plate, aluminium plate, interfacial etching on polycarbonate plate), linocut (single, multiplate and reduction), drypoint, monotypes of different kinds (including watercolour monoprints, multiplate intaglio and relief, and others), collagraphs, block printing, paper lithography, and more. There are plenty of opportunities amongst the group for synergies to develop and for members to be inspired by each other’s practice and experimentation.
The Studio is regularly open to the public, with demonstrations of the full gamut of printmaking techniques on the two large historic presses. Darvall explains:
“We want to broaden people’s understanding of printmaking, inspire public interest in printmaking, and promote printmaking in its many, varied, and experimental forms.”
The Studio’s next exhibition, Print Matters at Linton & Kay Galleries’ West Perth warehouse space in the historic Pickle District, runs from 29 October to 21 November 2022. Engaging with themes including loss and regeneration, ephemera, technology, and the current state of the world, Print Matters contains a range of works that celebrate colour, line, form, the beauty of abstraction, and the natural world. The exhibition speaks to printmaking’s long history and reflects its contemporary and experimental expressions, with a wide range of printmaking techniques included. Works by Darvall, Katie Glaskin, Claire Lawson, Kylee Larsen, Nigel Laxton, Joy Lefroy, Annemie McAuliffe, Mikaela Miller, and Harvey Mullen will be on show.
The next open studio at the Heathcote studio is on 6 November 2022. Contact Linton & Kay Galleries for more information.
Katie Glaskin is a painter, printmaker, and anthropologist.
