Practising exceptional in the experimental aspect of printmaking is independent designer Kate Castelli. Her studio practice exists at an intersection of books, prints, and paper that explores poetic and formal juxtapositions in order to connect what cannot be connected. Castelli works with printmaking in a non-traditional way as an element or layer rather than an end result, rarely editioning her images or series so everything is essentially a monoprint.
Relief printmaking, letterpress, and Risograph have been her most recent mediums of choice as they give the most flexibility for experimenting with different surfaces to print on. Castelli isn’t a fan of the pristine white blank page, “it feels daunting and sterile” says Castelli. Rather, she loves the nuance and variation in old book pages and vintage paper as it has more of a history in comparison to the blank page. Through actively incorporating ephemera such as scientific graph paper, antique end pages, and book illustrations, her print process adds to the monoprint nature of her work.
Artists books have been an integral part of her practice as vehicles to explore sequential relationships between text and image in both narrative and non-linear ways. Castelli is particularly drawn to folded book structures such as concertina or accordion books because of their sculptural nature.
While Castelli doesn’t consider herself a traditional printmaker, the print studio is where she feel most at home. The smell of ink, the ritual of setting up (and even cleaning up), the focus on details, and the physical rhythm of pulling prints has always made sense to the artist. “The process of printing is like alchemy: I have control over many of the elements, but the end result is still magic.” — Kate Castelli
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