From the heart, via the mind, through the hands, into the world.
By Lonneke — July 12, 2017 02:55 pm
With a mind always overflowing with ideas, Arjan was looking for a canal to help him bring some of them into existence. Enter: screen printing. Through this, we can materialize these ideas ourselves, be it on wood, paper, glass or fabric, without being dependent on an external party.
It's a real craft, with lots of steps leading to the end results. With digital printing, your printer does all the work. With screen printing, you experience the whole process: from idea to design, mixing colors, press and final product.
Early 1700 screen printing already existed in Japan; it's been done for a while now. It's like magic, contains the element of surprise, a little like with developing film roles; it's exciting to watch the finished product unfold. Chemistry is involved, light reveals the stencil. It takes experimenting, testing, trying out, sampling.
This trade is labor-intensive, so small editions are costly, but as long as you're willing to put in the time, that's alright. It's a good counterbalance to get from the spirit into the physical world, to make ideas tangible. Use the head, not creatively, but focussed on the craft. In the past months Arjan has built a washing booth, an exposure unit, a drying cabinet and a printing table. The tees we print on a 4-color carousel, to fixate the fabric, to press multiple colors tautly.
