Written by Andrea deBruijn

In summer of 2023, I packed up my car in Sackville, NB and drove to western Massachusetts. I had been invited to an artist residency at Zea Mays Printmaking, a studio dedicated to safe and sustainable print methods. With the support of an artsnb grant, I spent two weeks at Zea Mays and began a new body of work using a technique called photopolymer gravure. “Gravure” means that the printed image originates from an etched or engraved plate. Photopolymer gravure is a safer alternative to traditional etching methods because it uses water rather than a strong acid to develop the printing matrix.

Sunny studio space at Zea Mays, complete with a beautiful Takach etching press. Photo: Andrea deBruijn.

Although I had been briefly introduced to this technique before, my time at Zea Mays allowed me to really roll up my sleeves and practice. The studio director and other artists shared valuable tips about photopolymer gravure with me. I learned that an absorbent foam roller can be used to remove water from the surface of the plate after its development, which helps to eliminate unwanted marks that tend to appear in the printed image. For a print nerd such as myself, it’s worth driving thousands of kilometers across international borders to collect a little magic trick like that. It can mean the difference between a successful finished piece and an endless struggle with technical issues.

For my residency project, I used paper stencils from a past print series as the starting point for my imagery. I scanned these stencils and altered their scale in Photoshop to create new compositions. The compositions became photopolymer prints. My intention was to explore the concept of “recycling” – transforming cast-off material from old projects into the subject matter for my next work. I was interested in how this process could illustrate a commitment not only to sustainable material practices, but to a creative approach emphasizing the cyclical and regenerative.

Paper stencils that I used in the making of a previous print series. Though I originally intended for them to be disposable, I saved them because I loved how they became their own unique prints. Photo: Andrea deBruijn.

A developed photopolymer plate. The imagery comes from zooming in on my scanned printed stencils. Photo: Andrea deBruijn.

I have continued to work from the plates I made at Zea Mays, refining my prints as well as my printing skills. Photo-intaglio is a technically demanding process with many steps, and each step requires diligent attention to detail. This is not a medium that rewards the taking of shortcuts. Mistakes are usually obvious and distracting when you look at the final work, so I’ve concluded that it pays to be meticulous. Frustration is inevitable, but when the stars align, it’s a true dopamine rush to lift the paper from the plate and find that it printed beautifully. Seeing what I can achieve through perseverance and care is, to me, one of the most meaningful aspects of working in print.

Evidenced by Nature – Material Regeneration. Final iteration of a photopolymer gravure created at Zea Mays. Photo: Andrea deBruijn.

Since my residency, I’ve begun to experiment with yet another print technique: screenprint monotype. This way of working could not be more different from the slow, exacting nature of photopolymer gravure. Screenprint traditionally uses a stencil matrix to replicate an image. With monotype, however, I apply inks in a painterly fashion to a blank screen and use a squeegee to transfer the ink to paper. No two prints are alike. The process feels loose and playful, and if I’m not happy with the way a print comes out, it doesn’t matter because I wouldn’t be able to make it again anyway. There’s no point in obsessing over a result I don’t like – I just set it aside and move on. I love that printmaking offers such different ways of inhabiting the creative impulse. Through one technique, I can exercise precision and control. Through another, I can channel spontaneity and exuberance.

Pretty View of the Waste/Land. A second photopolymer gravure created at Zea Mays, re-printed after I returned to my studio in NB. Photo: Andrea deBruijn.

Screenprint monotype with a sassy title: 2C-B Coachella Manifesting Beachside Yoga Bro (VI). Photo: Andrea deBruijn.

Printmaking is important to me because I see it as an act of resistance against ideals of efficiency, productivity and convenience that hold such power in our increasingly digital culture. Compared to using a computer, it takes a lot of time and effort to hand-set metal type, to etch a plate or process a stone and print it yourself. It’s not lost on me that that analogue print technologies like letterpress, lithography and screenprint were first developed to speed the dissemination of information and the reproduction of images. But today, these processes allow me to occupy a space of purposeful inefficiency. They force me to slow down, to pay attention, to relish the joy and reckon with the limits of material reality.

I would like to thank artsnb for supporting my time at Zea Mays Printmaking through the Artist in Residence Program. I would also like to thank Zea Mays for their support through an Artist Merit Residency Grant.

Andrea deBruijn is a New Brunswick-based artist whose practice centres on printmaking. She uses methods like woodcut, screenprint, monoprint, and photoetching to explore ideas of memory, belonging, and relationship to place. Andrea earned her BFA with a concentration in Print Media from Concordia University. Since then, she has been invited to work in print studios across Canada and the world, including at the Banff Centre (Banff, AB); Kala Art Institute (Berkeley, CA); and the Skaftfell Centre for Visual Art (Seyðisfjörður, Iceland). In 2020, Andrea’s love of print led her to Sackville. She works as the printmaking technician at Mount Allison University.

Follow Andrea’s practice:

Website: https://andreadebruijn.com

Instagram: @impressions.d.andrea