In the second-last installment of the Art + Design Store – Friday Feature column, where I give you a closer look at artworks from my recent solo exhibition: Collected Patterns: The botany of Walter Hill, we discover the remaining limited edition postcard-sized letterpress prints: Casuarina, Erythroxylon Coca and Caladuim, which make up the Mixed 3 series. Printed on Magnani Incisioni 100% Cotton Rag Paper using rubber-based inks, they were inspired by the meticulous research of Walter Hill, the Brisbane Botanic Gardens’ first and most significant curator (1855-1881).
Now, in this post, I needn’t say too much as I’ve already looked at the inspiration behind Casuarina, Erythroxylon Coca and Caladium in the posts I penned on their giclée print counterparts.
However, this postcard-sized letterpress series is important in the collection as I felt strongly to take these designs and push them further. In the giclée prints, the rich black background forces the white linework to hover and pop from the surface in quite a magical way. I wanted to see what would happen with the designs in reverse – with black linework on a white background. I think firstly, the slight embossing of the letterpress not only physically, but visually allows the designs to ‘sit’ into the paper and become part of its structure. And secondly, by cropping the designs to the edges of the paper, they are forced to try and break free of their boundaries and extend beyond these limitations.
I hope you enjoyed learning more about the work, as I had a ball researching and developing it! The prints are part of a limited edition of 20, but there are still some available in the Art + Design Store.
For the last post in this series, see you next week for the Art + Design Store – Friday Feature!
