An Interview with Carla Scott Fullerton
We first saw the terrific work of Glasgow-based artist Carla Scott Fullerton from her involvement with the 2016 Glasgow International. It’s fascinating to chat with an artist for this journal series where the infrastructure of printmaking (the screens, the etching plates) is the primary material. Carla shares some really thought-provoking ideas around self-identifying as a printmaker and why these print materials are of such interest to her.
Clamped Frames, 2016
When did you start printing?
I began incorporating printmaking into my practice quite by accident when I was on the MFA at Glasgow School of Art in 2007. I was working predominantly in three-dimensions at that point using industrial materials – I was experimenting a lot as you do as a student. I wanted to create images on sheet metal and had approached the Printmaking department about achieving this through using acid and processes typically associated with etching.
At the time I wasn’t interested in taking prints from the metal it was more about creating an abstract surface image on a material I was using sculpturally. One of the technicians at the time asked if he could pull a print from one of the sheets of metal I was working on at the time, which I agreed to and he introduced me to the etching process at the same time. When I understood the process and the result I was amazed by the outcome and enjoyed the process which felt really sculptural and intuitive, I started to play around with the process and my interest in printmaking began there. Once I began working in the Glasgow Print Studio (GPS) my eyes were opened to all the other processes I wanted to learn these – I was never really excited by the final print but by the process involved in achieving it.
Concrete Ribs, 2015
Concrete Ribs, 2015
Where do you typically make your work? Home studio? Shared space?
I work in many places when I’m sketching out and trying out ideas – it can be at home or studio depending on size, scale and mess (practicalities often lead the way). When it comes to the actual print process I usually work from GPS as they have the facilities and space I require. GPS is a great place to work due to all the other artists working there and the support form the staff as well. As I work on my own quite a lot at home and in the studio it can be nice to be around others and have conversations about the work that I’m doing.
How do you see your interest in print informing your more expanded practice?
I am first and foremost a sculptor I would say working with materials and processes. More than anything it was the printmaking process that brought me to printmaking. It felt very akin to the way I was working with materials sculpturally and also complimentary. Printmaking provides me with additional tools to make marks, to create surfaces, to create shapes.
Inked Screen, 2014
What is it about the infrastructure of printmaking (the screens, the etching plates) that make them such a compelling sculptural material for you?’
I like to turn the process on its head, by making a sculpture out of the processes of printmaking; using something that is, in its own essence, equipment used to make a 2D image into a sculptural form. The materiality of the equipment also interests me as they are overlooked objects, rarely seen outside a print workshop that are beautiful in their own right. When you see the elements of the prints/plates etc, you are offered glimpses into the process and when seen against the final prints it opens up questions about how was it made. It forges a connection between process and outcome that I think prompts the viewer to think.
These processes are time intensive and physical but produce delicate-looking prints in the end which is fascinating. The viewer often does not realize how much has gone into the act of making the work. I feel that the plate, screen or woodcut tells more about the work and is more interesting to me than the final print and having them both being displaced together shows an interesting connection to the process.
If These Walls Had Ears, 2015
Who would you love to collaborate with?
I enjoy collaborating with others but not really so much in the act of making, that’s quite intuitive and personal to me. I enjoy collaborating with those from different fields such as writers, choreographers and architects – those with similar interest perhaps but a different approach to these interests.
What are you working on at the moment?
Things are actually taking a little turning point in my practice just now which is really exciting. I’ve spent the last year undertaking a lot of research and spending a lot of time in my studio which has been a nice change. There are exciting things to come!