New York based multi-disciplinary artist gwen charles was one of the participants to our Risograph Workshop in June. gwen charles interjects the performing body, often her own, as an exploration of the female experience, in videos and live performances interweaving sculpture, movement. In her installations, she has constructed every component: the generation of textiles, costume design, the performance and the photography. So at our workshop, she wanted to experiment with Risograph on fabric. Risographs can only print on uncoated paper, but it is always tempting to test new materials on the Risograph process. gwen charles brought some silk designed for digital printing, so the fabric is attached on a piece of paper which makes it easy to run them through the printer
We invited gwen charles as a guest author on our blog. Check out her work at http://www.gwencharles.com or follow her daily studio process on her Instagram: swamigwen. Here is what she says about her work and her printing risograph on fabric experiment at our studio.
For over twenty years, I have been creating improvised, site-specific live performances using handcrafted wearable props. More recently, the live performances have morphed into actions created for non-proscenium formats, capturing the moving body through space with digital video and photographs. Recent works are inspired by vivid sleeping dream imagery and synesthetic responses to daily events. The resulting imagery merges elements of reality and magical realism.
My interest in textiles has lead me to print on fabric with stamps, silkscreen, inkjet printers, copy machines and with digital printers to make textile banners and wearables.
I also research the traditional fabric and designs of various cultures. During a residency at a South Indian weaving centre known as Tasara Centre For Creative Weaving, I spent over a month discovering the traditional weaving and natural dying techniques used across Asia. While studying and teaching in Mexico, I traveled to find traditional native weaving techniques. Many of the costumes I create are sculptural rather than fashionable wear for everyday. The costumes can be stand alone on a display as art objects but they are at their best when displayed on the human body. A recent project include a sheer taffeta blouse sewn with pockets of moving micro beads inspired by traditional Korean patchwork techniques. Another recent project is inspired by scientific readings about climate change using silver coated pleather to represent the melting icebergs.
I admire artists that use traditional, low-fi and very little postproduction techniques. I am inspired and focused on using the local resources available to me to make captivating work. I was thrilled to find a printmaking technique called Risograph – using stencil duplicator color machine with Authorized to Work in the US Press at their Industry City, Brooklyn location. At a recent workshop with Authorized to Work, I was introduced to Cem Kocyildirim’s way of collaging multiple elements to be combined as different colors using a Risograph printer.
In the Risograph workshop, I used a drawing of Hygieia, goddess of health, inspired by Gustav Klimt’s painting Medicine (circa 1900). We printed this drawing with soy based red ink and layered it with drawings of the protective eye printed in Steel color to create a two-color limited edition Risograph print. My second print was again using the symbol of the protective eye printed in bright red overlapped with a yellow print of a photograph of the City Palace in Jaipur, India. The yellow and red inks mixed in to a gorgeous, deep orange color reminiscent of the City Palace’s colors from my memories.
We also experimented printing on silk using the Risograph printer. This risograph print on fabric worked really well and the smooth silk absorbed the Risograph ink to create a luscious rich color print. After the Risograph workshop, I embellished the two-color Risograph on fabric with metallic thread, glass beads and rhinestones. I turned the embellished fabric into a banner ready to hang as a unique artwork and protective talisman.
I would like to return to the Cem’s Risograph studio to print again with a longer piece of fabric to create one of a kind printed costumes. At this intersection of traditional art materials and methods, combined with modern and old-school techniques I find myself at the perfect place and time melding with the contemporary and technological world. I look forward to playing with the materials more and seeing how it inspires a new body of work.
Below are some action shots from our workshop, and a photo of Cem with his new “silk scarf”, proudly printed Risograph on fabric, in 2 colors.
