Helios

I am an Irish-born artist with a BA from Belfast College of Art. After many years living and working in London, I moved to very rural Cornwall in 2003. I have exhibited in numerous solo and mixed shows in London and elsewhere in the UK and as far afield as Vienna, and my work has been selected for several national Open exhibitions.

 

Although always a painter, I began exploring Printmaking around 2010 and it quickly became central to my artistic practice. I most often make monotypes which are individual prints rather than part of an edition. The process still feels to me like painting but using printmaking techniques rather than oils and canvas. 

 

​I work in layers, applying the inks onto the plate before the press transfers it onto paper. I do this again and again until I feel I have resolved the image. Sometimes I include ‘chine colle’ – handmade Japanese paper torn or cut to the shape I want and stuck to the print with rice paste during one of the pressings. I prefer not to use prepared sketches or plans but rather allow the ideas I have to develop as I work, responding to the marks I make and allowing a play between control and spontaneity. Sometimes the most exciting element is when the unexpected occurs during the printmaking process, making me find ways of incorporating these developments into my work.

Collagraph

59x57cm 

Framed under glass

Edition of 20