Earlier this year we were thrilled to welcome Galina Munroe into the studio as our first ever Artist In Residence.
The intention behind our Artist In Residence series is to collaborate with an artist on truly original prints created from scratch here in the studio. After visiting Galina in Norwich late last year, we began thinking about which processes would not only best replicate her practice but be a continuation of her practice directly.
So, after many months of delays (mostly C*vid related) we were beyond excited to finally collect Galina from the local railway station, art supplies in one hand and a suitcase in the other, ready to begin.
Galina’s series of flower paintings, which she has exhibited all over the world, are painted over tiled and collaged canvas backgrounds which create an invitingly tactile texture to the work. Upon seeing this element we knew that Collagraph would be the first port of call to experiment with in the studio. After much experimenting and failing with different types of canvas, ink consistencies and paper stocks we eventually landed on a successful formula.
The next step was to start thinking about the subject matter of the prints, Galina’s flowers. Screenprinting these was always going to be the best way to get the right saturation of colour and opacity of ink. So whilst Jan and Carl began to nail down replicating the collagraph backgrounds multiple times over, Galina set up studio in our finishing room.
The essence of screen printing is simple. Ink is pushed through a fine mesh on a frame and you block the areas of it that you don’t want the ink to go through. To achieve this with Galina’s prints we first needed her to paint the flower elements directly onto clear sheets of acetate using black paint. Using a combination of photosensitive emulsion, Ultra Violet light and peroxides that ruin any item of clothing they come into contact with, we are able to transfer these painted elements onto our silkscreen frames. Now on the screen we can print and reprint the same layer over and over on top of the Collagraph backgrounds creating a satisfying interplay of colour and texture.
Throughout this whole process Galina was involved directly in making the screens, mixing the inks, remixing the inks and buying the ice creams and we were all beyond happy with the results.
Galina Munroe (b.1993) is a French/British artist currently working out of Norwich, UK.`
After completing a Masters in Fine Art from the prestigious Central Saint Martin’s College of Art in 2016, Galina has gone on to gain international recognition for her still life practice. Recent solo exhibitions of her work have taken place at Brick’s Gallery in Copenhagen, Union Gallery in London and at Piermarq Gallery in Sydney.