Moray Gallery

Peter McLaren: Light Impressions

8 June - 13 July 2024

Whilst the printmaking component is integral to the overall look of the work, much of it also involves an element of hand-colouring – whether that’s painting or pastel work. Additional hand-colouring enhances the overall feel of these works and does not change the character of the image – ultimately, everything is in service to the image.

Printmaking is basically the process of transferring pigment from one surface to another – often using a printing press.

My preferred method of printmaking is the monotype – which is essentially a way of painting with a printing press. Because I generally do not carve, etch, or scratch an image onto the printing plate, each work is a one-off piece (hence the name ‘monotype’). Once the inked plate has been through the press and the image transferred to paper, the plate is simply wiped down, a blank canvas, ready to start again.

I went into art school as a painter and had assumed that I would major in painting, but I fell in love with the printmaking department and ended up majoring in printmaking instead. One of the biggest attractions of printmaking is how its processes (including explorations around textures) has fed into my painting practice. For me, the two disciplines are very much aligned, and I find that the practices continually feed into one another.

 

LINK to a short film of Peter's printmaking process: 'The Artist at Work'.

 

LINK to the ODT review of Light Impressions by James Dignan.