Robyn Maclennan is an artist and printmaker who uses multiple printmaking and photography processes to explore the landscape and our connections to it. Robyn works as a print technician at Leicester Print Workshop, and is also currently a PhD candidate at London College of Communication. Her research revolves around how ecoGothic theory can be used to re-examine our relationship with nature, and how fear has permeated our perceptions of the non-human world.
“I am particularly interested in the links between the darkness found in the ecoGothic and the necessity of darkness to my photography and printmaking practice, as well as how understanding the agency of both the natural world and the works I produce can grant us a better understanding of the world around us. Whilst being reliant on darkness to work, photography is a process of capturing the light we see into a physical artifact which I then translate again into print.”
Robyn was first introduced to printmaking on her foundation degree at University of Northampton in 2013, and became instantly obsessed with the process of making and printing collagraphs. She then took a little detour into illustration and animation for her degree and circled back around to print when she started her Masters in Fine Art in 2018. It was there that Robyn learnt photoetching and paper lithography; the processes she predominantly practices now.
At the moment, her process revolves around photography and print. Robyn goes out into a landscape to take photographs digitally or using her Canon. Whilst there, she also takes imprints of textures from trees or soils. Then, Robyn takes her photos into the print room to make zinc or solar plate etchings, and combines these with the textures found on location.
Her work is predominantly inspired by nature, but also a lot of reading, gothic literature, science fiction and non-fiction, and, of course, other artists! “Leicester Print Workshop has a gorgeous collection of members and you never know when a conversation will spark new ideas,” says the printmaker.
This year, Robyn hopes to learn and experiment with some new printing processes such as stone lithography, mokuhanga, and mokulito.
www.robynmaclennan.com
@robynmac.art
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