I began making colourful reduction woodcuts during the lockdown period of 2020, being a moment when I had the space, time and opportunity to hone a new technique. The theme of isolated figures going about their lives within interiors is one which stuck with me. In particular, light, and its impact upon the body, being a method of tracking time during endless days, became the focal point of these new works.

For the first time, I chose to display within the exhibition what is left of the woodblocks from which I made the prints, and film of me working in the studio, giving the audience a unique insight into the labour-intensive carving and printing process involved in making them. The image is built up in a series of layers, and the whole edition is printed in one go, registered layer by layer, and more of the block is carved away until there is almost nothing left. There is no way to go back once you have committed to making the cut.  

The monochromatic work offers a different aesthetic – the mezzotints are a dryprint etching process whereby you work from dark to light, burnishing the surface of the toothed copper plate to introduce the highlights. Photo-gravure is a method whereby I was able to integrate my interest in photography with printmaking, creating images of ephemeral moments captured over the last year, and a series of three intriguing prints, generated from my sculptural work involving casting and distorting myface in resin.