An Interview with Isabel Wilkinson
For Isabel Wilkinson, the process if printing is less about the creation of faithful reproductions as it is about developing a vocabulary of surfaces that can best service an idea or mood. Her captivating monoprints on paper and textile become animated as they move off from the wall and drape themselves over furniture or the gallery’s own architecture. She creates a depth of texture through her inky impressions, making her pieces feel like tangible artifacts of a lived, physical process.
The Necker, presented at APT Gallery, May 2021. A two-person exhibition with Sebastian Thomas. Canvas wall hangings by Isabel Wilkinson, paper wall covering by Isabel Wilkinson and Sebastian Thomas, sculptures by Sebastian Thomas
When did you first start printing?
The first print I made was when I was about 12 years old and my dad bought me a screenprinting craft kit for Christmas. I loved Andy Warhol but had no idea how the screenprinting process worked - when it was described in books about him it was a total mystery to me. I opened up the kit and the screen was tiny - I made myself a stencil and printed a T-shirt and the mystery was revealed. I then studied graphics at Camberwell College of Arts and spend a lot of time screenprinting and etching images of mythological creatures, and not doing much graphic design - that was when I started to realize the possibilities of print as a way of communicating not just graphic information but more nebulous ideas too.
The Queen, carborundum and monoprint on canvas with foiled wood, 2019
Daisy Crowns and Pure Gold, carborundum and monoprint on canvas, 2021. Untitled wall covering, digital print on paper, Isabel Wilkinson and Sebastian Thomas, 2021 (sculpture: Sebastian Thomas.)
Did you receive formal print training or did you begin incorporating print techniques over time?
After finishing my graphics degree I took evening classes at Morley College and learned how to do aquatint and how to print on fabric using various techniques. Printing on fabric really changed my view of printing from a precise, structured medium to something far more fluid and unpredictable. At heart I am a messy person so the precision of printmaking had always eluded me - suddenly I found that I didn't need to be precise and in fact the messier I could get, the more interesting the results.
I went back to Camberwell to study printmaking and was taught lithography by Simon Burbidge, who knows the process like nobody else. The painterly aspect of litho drew me back to using a much more direct, tactile and textured way of mark making. My final MA show was a series of monoprints, which in a way was a move backwards in terms of complexity - litho is an incredibly complex process and I reverted back to what essentially is the gateway of printmaking - but I still find monoprint the most direct and satisfying form of printmaking. I now combine it with carborundum printing, which I think gives me the best of what I loved about aquatint, but on a much larger scale and with more immediacy.
The Necker, presented at APT Gallery, May 2021. A two-person exhibition with Sebastian Thomas. Canvas wall hangings, woven nets and textile sculptures by Isabel Wilkinson, all other sculptures and framed wall pieces by Sebastian Thomas
Where do you typically make your work? Home studio? Shared space?
I have a studio with a communal printing area where I make all my work on a large etching press. Outside of the studio I draw in pen and ink and paint with oils, but I am currently using large pieces of canvas to paint and print on so I missed the studio and the press a lot during lockdown, when I mostly painted the same view out of my window over and over again!
The Necker, presented at APT Gallery, May 2021. A two-person exhibition with Sebastian Thomas. Canvas wall hangings by Isabel Wilkinson, paper wall covering by Isabel Wilkinson and Sebastian Thomas, sculptures by Sebastian Thomas
The Sinking Spell, carborundum and monoprint on canvas, 2021. Untitled wall covering – digital print on paper, Isabel Wilkinson and Sebastian Thomas, 2021.
Top: Easter, carborundum print, monoprint and permanent marker on paper, 2019.
Bottom: Oxford Crown, pine, PVA, transfer foil and graphite, 2019.
Top: The Greenwitch, monoprint, PVA, transfer foil and stitched canvas, 2019.
Bottom: Scum II, plaster, pigment, PVA and transfer foil, 2019.
How do you see your print background informing your more expanded practice?
Print is always there in some way in my work although I wouldn't ever describe myself as a printmaker - I hate editioning and don't have the patience for the truly precise print processes. But that conduit between the eye, the hand and the substrate is what fascinates me - the press is another tool that allows me to make the mark that I want.
What role do the printed components play for you when they're incorporated into your multi-disciplinary projects?
Dyeing and printing fabric gives me loads of raw material with which to make objects that sit somewhere between 2D and 3D, like nets and vessels, or tapestries. Craft is sometimes seen as a dirty word by artists but I love craft. To me it means entering a headspace where your hands and your mind work together in an unselfconscious way. For example when I make nets or a tapestry, there is a certain set of parameters within which you are making your piece - following a pattern or set of rules. This allows your mind to relax to the point where new things happen. Collaborating with Sebastian Thomas recently has definitely made me want to expand this use of printed material into sculptural forms.
Big Lick, carborundum and monoprint on canvas, 2021. Untitled wall covering – digital print on paper, Isabel Wilkinson and Sebastian Thomas, 2021.
Who would you love to collaborate with?
A lot of my work is inspired by the late Russell Hoban's writing - I would have loved to have worked with him. My practice is often informed by what I'm reading so I'd love to collaborate with a writer to explore this dynamic in a different way.
What are you working on at the moment?
I'm currently working on pieces that combine nudes and abstract landscapes. During lockdown I did online life drawing, which I hadn't done since school, and so the figure has started appearing in my work for the first time in years.
The Long Shadow, monoprint and carborundum on paper, 2017.
The Beast, carborundum printed stitched cotton jersey, 2019.
Each featured post in the Womxn in Expanded Print series is accompanied by a donation to the social justice cause of each artist’s choosing in their name. Isabel’s chosen organization is Positive East, UK.