The monoprints Kate Petley created at Manneken Press in 2022 are are a singular blending of 3-D and 2-D imagery, 19th C. analog and 21st C. digital photographic processes, and relief printing.
Beginning in 2013 Petley produced several monoprint series with Manneken Press. The prints always began with an image drawn or painted on film and transferred to a copper plate using the method of direct gravure. These plates were printed in black ink and additional plates would be used to add layered fields of transparent color. Around 2018 Petley’s work shifted toward an exploration of the intersection of photography and painting, and for her 2022 project with Manneken Press we wanted the prints to reflect the importance of the role photography now plays in her process.
To make the Signal and Marker prints Petley began in much the same way she would begin a painting. This involved making a simple, temporary object out of cardboard and paper, wrapping the object with gradient film, then staging and lighting it. From this scene Petley composed the image in the viewfinder of a digital camera which faithfully captured it. She then edited the image to remove the background and isolate the form. Through this process the humble sculptural form was transformed and elevated to mythical proportions. An inkjet printer was used to print Petley’s digital photographic images to film. At Manneken Press we used the films as the basis to make copper photogravure plates which were hand-printed in black ink on paper. To these prints
Petley added layers of color using relief printing and hand-cut stencils, building layers of luminosity, subtle gradients and overlapping geometries to create a stunning series of related but unique prints. Petley writes about the prints: “There is an awkward tension, a sense of familiarity, and an odd balance in the compositions. I’m looking for a particular rhythm, a clumsy formality that seems almost tender. Moving towards sensation, subject matter is pushed out and an experiential sense of space fills the gap left behind. I am determined to pull a non-existing image out of thin air using a vocabulary that is not about language and by complicating the relationship of foreground to background and alluding to a distinct presence, my own experiences are inserted.” The prints in the Signal and Marker series are photogravure and relief monoprints. Each piece is unique, printed by hand using archival oil-based inks on Hahnemühle Copperplate and Arches En Tout Cas papers.
Signal and Marker are bleed prints, with the image extending to the edges of the paper; their dimensions are 24.75 x 20.25 inches. Each print is titled, signed and dated by the artist, verso, in pencil, and is impressed with the Manneken Press blind stamp. Petley’s prints are published by and available from Manneken Press.
Courtesy of Manneken Press, Bloomington, Indiana.