Originally trained as an architect, London-based printmaker Chiara Mensa carves a series of five multiblock linocuts exploring the small physical gestures that define companionship between humans and rescue animals, printed in a limited edition of 30 on Somerset satin 250gsm.
Trust between a person and a rescue animal is not given. It is built incrementally, in small moments that accumulate over time: a paw resting on a hand, a nose extended in careful curiosity, a cat settling between a pair of feet. Chiara Mensa has spent time living with rescue animals and volunteering at a shelter in Morocco, and it is that experience of trust being earned rather than assumed that grounds the Contact Series.
The five prints, titled Held, Touch, Tangle, Middle and Clasp, each isolate a single moment of physical contact between a human and a domestic animal. The framing is consistently close and first-person, stripping away any surrounding context to keep the focus entirely on the point of connection. Held and Clasp frame the hand as a safe anchor for a paw, emphasising grounding and reassurance. Touch captures the delicate, careful moment of initial approach, a small animal extending toward a human finger. Tangle brings a sense of warmth and playful closeness through intertwining paws. Middle places a kitten snugly between a pair of feet, exactly where cats tend to end up.
“The series is about the non-verbal language of trust,” Mensa says. “Not grand gestures, but the small, deliberate pressures and quiet presences that build a bond over time.” The multi-block linocut process, with its three distinct colour layers requiring careful carving and precise alignment, reflects that patience materially. Each layer is committed to before the next can begin. Each must be earned before the image resolves. “The slowness of carving is part of the meaning,” she says. “You cannot rush a linocut any more than you can rush an animal deciding whether to trust you.”
The restrained, muted palette keeps the focus on form, gesture and negative space rather than colour. Somerset satin 250gsm was chosen for its rich ink absorption and the crisp edges it holds, giving the prints a tactile presence that reflects the physical intimacy of their subject.
Chiara Mensa trained as an architect before developing a printmaking practice from her home studio since 2022, bringing a sensitivity to form, depth and spatial relationships into work that asks for slow, careful attention.
Website: chiaramensa.com Instagram: @chiaramensaart
Contact Series, 2026. Five multiblock linocuts on Somerset satin 250gsm. Three colour blocks, limited edition of 30. Prints: Held, Touch, Tangle, Middle, Clasp. All images staged and photographed by Chiara Mensa.
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