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Liz Chalfin, the Director of Zea Mays Printmaking, a non-toxic studio in Massachusetts, recently embarked on an exciting trip to Johannesburg to teach a workshop at Artist Proof Studio. Whilst there, she was introduced to William Kentridge, one of the great artists of our time and took the opportunity to show him the non-toxic printmaking techniques that she is developing.   

“Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would end up processing plates for an artist I hold in such great esteem.” 

Kentridge is a South African artist best known for prints, drawings, and animated films concerned with the political and the poetic. He has exhibited widely and his work is held in permanent collections at MoMA, The Tate and the Metropolitan Museum of Art among others. He describes his studio as a ‘vital physical and psychic space’ where he conceives and develops these ambitious projects. In a life changing moment, Liz found herself processing plates alongside this prestigious artist “I was happy to put my own work aside to have the opportunity to collaborate on a William Kentridge project!”

What began as a demonstration using coffee in a process called ‘coffee lift’ developed into three new prints that he decided to undertake. He was hugely impressed by her innovative non-toxic etching techniques and excited by the fluidity of coffee as a drawing medium. The similarity of colour between the coffee and the copper plate presented a few challenges, but he persisted with enormous success. Liz describes the tension of lifting the first drawing from a Kentridge plate as intense but she was reassured working alongside the team at Artist Proof Studios, who have worked with Kentridge to produce many prints.   

“Nathi and I were working under intense pressure to complete the plate processing and proofing in a single day.” 

Liz, Nathi and the team continued to process plates and proofs during the daytime, leaving them for him to draw on in the evening and picking them up in the morning to process. There would be one final new technique for Liz to demonstrate – drawing on a soy wax soft ground.

“His willingness to venture into new printmaking terrain under my guidance has been a highlight of my life. And as I wrote to him in my thank you note, his embracing of these new techniques is a gesture that will ripple through the print world and give validation to all of our attempts to make printmaking safer for artists and the environment.”

Robynn Smith, Founder of Print Day in May concludes, “This is such an exciting development in the print world and for me personally, as Liz is a friend and superb colleague.”

Read the complete blog which includes a more detailed account of the printmaking techniques involved here: https://printmakinginjohannesburg.home.blog/