Sou Pui Kun：My Printmaking Experience
- Admin
- Apr 4
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 12
Printmaking is a combination of ‘printing’ and ‘painting’, and it is not appropriate to fix the focus on either ‘printing’ or ‘painting’. The diversity and transient values of today's society have infiltrated into every gap in our lives, so why do we still need to hang prints on the walls? The taste of mono-print painting is not bad at all. If you are already a bit tired of ‘mass printing’, you might as well allow some individual differences to exist, or when strolling along the beach, pay attention to the different footprints you leave behind, the inconspicuous grains of sand that shine like small quartz stones in the sunlight, and appreciate the different faces of the people who pass by every day, as well as the tiny differences between the brothers who are born in the same family. I can't find any reason to convince myself that I am like a printing machine to create prints, and I can't remember when I started to appreciate some out-of-control images, but I only feel that chance, randomness, and reduced mastery seem to be more interesting and vibrant than strict quality control.
How do I keep on doing printmaking? The reason is simple: I like it. As long as I really like it, I can keep doing it. Perhaps since I was a child, I like to do some small toys with my hands, so I am particularly fond of printmaking with more technical content. Thirty-two years ago, I was a third-year student of the Department of Fine Arts at the National Taiwan Normal University, and at that time I took printmaking, and I began to learn concave, convex, hole, and flat printmaking, and after I graduated, I loved intaglio printmaking, and I especially liked copper plate etching. In 1985, I bought a small Japanese printmaking machine from Hong Kong for more than 4,000 yuan (one month's salary), and formally started to create copper plate etching. The pressure of the machine was not enough, so I thought of many solutions, and I also gave up using good French paper, and changed to absorbent paper, ordinary drawing paper, jade button paper, rice paper, and my own handwritten paper, etc. I remember all these scenes today. In retrospect, I sincerely admire the wisdom of the Jesuit Father Ma Guoxian in printing the ‘Thirty-six Poems on the Imperial Summer Resort’ in the Forbidden City of Beijing during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to have a copy of Liao Xiuping's ‘The Art of Printmaking’ as a guiding light.
Why did I switch from shelving my favourite metal plates to using Ultraviolet Curable Ink (UV Ink) to make plates? It was by chance that I discovered the existence of this ink on the surface of a laser disc. At that time, I scraped the protruding screen-printed image with my fingernail, took out some intaglio ink and coated it on the surface, and then printed it in intaglio mode, and the result was that the contrast of the image was a little bit on the weak side, but I was able to print out the image, so I have carried out a series of experiments since 1997, and have used it on a small and partial scale, and then I have mastered the characteristics of the UV ink and the process of the tanning operation and formally applied it to the production of metal plates. By 1999, I had fully mastered the characteristics of UV ink and the process of tanning, and formally applied it to intaglio painting. Encouraged by K.P. Lee's giant watercolour paintings, I created a series of intaglio paintings of 1.8m x 0.9m with UV curing ink as the theme in 2001, which were exhibited at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Lumley Chun Hall in Macau respectively, and I have deeply experienced the joy of rapid plate making. After switching to UV inks, a 1.8m x 0.9m print usually takes 5-7 days to produce, and the layers are very rich, and the feeling of constantly adding more and more layers is especially fascinating. The PVC layout has the feeling of constantly growing, rather than being consumed by the etching process of copper plates, which continues to consume until the plate is etched through. The less-than-perfect tanning effect adds to the glamour of the image.
After trying UV ink, I found that this material is not a delicate reproduction material. However, summing up the experience of my creative practice over the past few years, I personally think that there are still more advantages than disadvantages, first of all, from the point of view of feelings, the additive method of plate making gives people a feeling of continuous growth, while the subtractive methods of plate making such as engraving and etching have a little bit of helplessness of continuous consumption of life, and if there is a slight mistake, it will be very difficult to correct it or to etch it once again. Whenever UV ink is added layer by layer to the layout, the lines intertwine and record some insignificant feelings on the surface, just like the accumulation of years that has become my life, printmaking has been a hobby that has accompanied me for more than 30 years.
Soon after I graduated from Normal University, I happened to meet the first International Printmaking Biennial Exhibition in Taiwan, and I started to send pieces to participate in it, and it became an important exhibition that accompanied my growth, and I learnt from it the works of famous artists both at home and abroad. As for my prints winning awards, maybe it is because of my better luck than others, in fact, I have been rejected and withdrawn quite a lot, and I am satisfied whenever I send my pieces to participate in the exhibition with the hope that they can be selected.
When it comes to my impressive prints, they are not the recent UV ink intaglio prints, but a few experiments in 1994. At that time, I had already mastered black and white photography, and when I was developing photos, I thought of the combination of ‘print’ and ‘printmaking’. When I was developing my photos, I thought of the combination of ‘print’ and ‘printmaking’, and after reading a book on the production of black and white photographic emulsions, I started to do experiments, which allowed me to make my own black and white photographic paper, and at the same time incorporate them into intaglio printing, thus fulfilling both ideas at once.
Today, the ecosystem of printmaking in Macao is quite good, with well-equipped studios and teachers, as well as regular training courses. The first Triennial of Printmaking in 2012 has already started, and there will be more opportunities for exchanges and learning in the future, and it would be even more complete if traditional lithography could be developed in Macao.
Today, I understand that before creation is reading and thinking and exploring, and after creation is still reading and thinking and exploring, and I am happy to do so. As for the printed prints, they are the extra harvest in creation.
Wrote in 2012
Sou Pui Kun
Comments