Georgia Green won the Planographic Award in Jackson’s Art Prize this year with her work Dartmoor Tiger. In this interview, Georgia discusses how she blends the immediacy of painting with the technical side of printmaking in her practice, and how winning the Planographic Award has affirmed her belief in herself as a printmaker.
Above image: Litho stones etching in the studio.
Dartmoor Tiger, 2022
Georgia Green
Risograph print on paper, 21 x 14.8 cm | 8.2 x 5.8 in
Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background?
Georgia: I have always had an overactive imagination, and I dream a lot. There are far more ideas swirling in my mind than I will ever be able to translate into art. I was home-schooled as a child and I used to draw all the time. It was a wonderful experience and allowed me to prioritise art over more conventional academic subjects from an early age.
I went to Glasgow School of Art to study painting and printmaking as a degree, which has led me to the prints I make today. I especially loved the duality of this specialised degree, pairing the spontaneity of painting with the technicality of print. Although I haven’t painted since my graduation in 2018, I am always drawn to printmaking techniques that reflect the liveliness and immediacy of painting.
Orlando, 2022
Georgia Green
Risograph, 21 x 14.8 cm | 8.3 x 5.8 in
Josephine: What does a typical working day in the studio look like for you? Do you have any important routines or rituals?
Georgia: My working pattern is often idiosyncratic as I use communal print studio spaces rather than having my own studio. For example, each month I spend three to four days facilitating workshops at The Art Station as their printmaking technician. The Art Station is a brilliant charity supporting creative outreach in rural East Anglia, and they have a lovely little riso print studio. The classes and one-to-one sessions I have with artists take up five or six hours a day, so I have plenty of time to print my own editions on either side of teaching. I like working late as my energy levels are highest in the evenings, so I might stick around until 11pm or midnight making work. Risography is incredibly fast, so I can make multiple editions per hour if I get my designs right.
The design stage does soak up a lot of my time. Almost all my prints start organically as chalk and pastel sketches. These little compositions are then worked up into larger designs digitally, allowing me to easily separate the colour layers for my finished prints. It can take a week or two per design before I’m ready to print my first artist proof.
Georgia’s current print studio (East London Printmakers), 2024.
Josephine: Which materials or tools could you not live without?
Georgia: I started working digitally five years ago, purchasing an iPad and Apple Pencil. A lot of my work has been finalised digitally ever since. It can be an absolute lifesaver to have my entire design ‘studio’ contained within one easily transportable device. During the pandemic accessing a print studio regularly was nearly impossible, and working digitally allowed me to keep generating ideas during lockdown. My iPad is certainly essential and travels with me everywhere.
Lithography etching test stone.
Josephine: Do you employ any unique techniques in your printmaking process?
Georgia: At the moment I am particularly interested in the interplay between modern, mechanised forms of print production and their traditional, hands-on counterparts. For example, I love the textural similarity between stone lithography and risography. Whilst they are wildly different processes, the fine dither-dots produced by the riso stencil make a textural pattern similar to the rich grain found in litho stones. The natural translucency of riso ink also compliments the delicate potential of lithography’s liquid tusche.
My knowledge of each process assists how I interpret colour and pattern across both techniques, strengthening my capabilities in each medium. By highlighting the affinity they share, I aim to bridge the divide between conventional and more accessible, contemporary printmaking techniques. Nowadays I only print non-toxic and solvent-free stone lithographs. The results gained through the non-toxic approach are in themselves distinct from traditional lithography, leading to variations in the subtlety of the etching process as a result.
Dartmoor Tiger early design sketch in a Muji notebook.
Josephine: Do you regularly draw or keep a sketchbook? If so, how does this inform your work?
Georgia: I carry cheap A6 notebooks from Muji with me everywhere filled with thoughts, visual observations and designs. These notebooks serve not only as a starting point for future editions but also as journals. I have stacks of them going back nearly a decade documenting moments from my daily life, dreams, and ideas. There are also pressed flowers and little feathers tucked into many of the pages as little tokens of the places I have visited as an artist.
Studio process photo
Josephine: Have you ever had a period of stagnation in creativity? If so, what helped you overcome it?
Georgia: There have been many times since my graduation when I have felt unable to make work. However, the cause of this stagnation has been external rather than internal. Printmaking is simultaneously wonderfully innovative and frustratingly inaccessible. This is largely due to the specialised facilities required to make both traditional and contemporary print. Print studios are fantastic resources for artists such as myself, and non-toxic print practices are becoming more commonplace. However, studio fees are often expensive, with limited space or long waiting lists for artists looking to become key-holder members. I often have to travel in order to access specialised printmaking facilities, which I am fortunate enough to be able to do. But for many artists and communities, these barriers are massively prohibitive. I always make the most out of every opportunity I get to use the specialised printmaking facilities where I work, as I am aware it is a real privilege.
Sketches from Cezanne exhibition.
Josephine: Are there any specific artists or mentors who have inspired you?
Georgia: I went to a gorgeously curated Tate Modern exhibition on Cezanne back in 2022. This is the first thing that popped into my head reading the question, and I still think about it all the time. Seeing his work in real life gave me a new appreciation for his dazzling use of colour. There’s something jewel-like about his paintings that had me mesmerised room after room. I really wasn’t expecting to be so charmed, which made it extra special.
Speaking more broadly, the slightly surreal scenes I depict in my prints are influenced by a wide range of visual and written material, often including a solitary figure or animal as a narrative cue. I collect inspiration from children’s book illustrations, novels, poetry, frescoes, architecture, and interior design. Recently I developed a series of risograph prints inspired by a visit to Kettle’s Yard, a peculiar and tranquil art gallery in Cambridge. Another edition was inspired by Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando. Sometimes I’ll combine characters lifted directly or influenced by films or literature with interiors from my everyday life. I watched a lot of Studio Ghibli as a kid, and I have always been drawn to the hidden symbolism or dualism found in the animals, dwellings, and characters from these beautiful films. Nothing is quite as it seems in the vivid, nature-saturated scenes of Princess Mononoke, My Neighbour Totoro or Spirited Away. While my artistic style remains very different, I definitely feel the anthropomorphic animals sitting and sleeping in my designs relate in part to my love of these Studio Ghibli productions.
The Bear, 2024
Georgia Green
Risograph, 14.8 x 21 cm | 5.8 x 8.3 in
Josephine: How did it feel to realise you had won the Planographic Award?
Georgia: It has been wonderfully affirming! I find risography is often overlooked by traditional printmakers due to its modern and mechanised origins. Whilst I adore its unique style, I feel a certain level of imposter syndrome championing this technique as a fine artist. To see one of my riso editions recognised by the Jackson’s Art Prize on its merit is so encouraging. I was unaware of the definition of planographic printmaking until I won the prize. But I have since realised that all three of my chosen printmaking techniques (risography, silkscreen, and lithography) fall under its definition. To have found this new commonality within my practice to be an interesting insight in itself. Since winning the award I really do feel more sure of myself and my practice as a printmaker. It has been an incredible opportunity, and I cannot understate how grateful I am to the judges for their support and recognition.
Georgia in the studio with her screen
Josephine: What drew you to risograph printing as a medium?
Georgia: My educational background is in classical printmaking. However, accessibility and environmental sustainability have become a top priority for me as a printmaker and arts facilitator in recent years. Risography is a mechanised form of stencil printing with a more climate-conscious appeal than its traditional or digital counterparts. Riso machines are often and easily refurbished, cheap to run and use vibrant inks made from rice bran oil. They are a perfect example of innovative, sustainable and affordable printmaking. I started making riso editions in 2020. We set up a riso studio at The Art Station with the help of a grant from East Suffolk Council in 2022, and I have been enchanted with the medium ever since.
System 3 Process Magenta acrylic ink.
Josephine: Your work exudes a sleepy, magical warmth that is only enhanced by the risograph technique. Is this an intentional pairing?
Georgia: Colour is very important to me as an artist. I love the painterly, dreamy quality of translucent riso inks. Riso machines translate colour into a fine dither of dots, softening each layer with a grainy appeal. This grain reminds me of old film photography, which lends a nostalgic tint to each edition. Enclosed by these grainy scenes I am drawn into the warmth of my childhood; filling empty rooms with colourful figures and animals I collect from children’s books, novels, poetry, films, and dreams. There is a natural drift which occurs from layer to layer as part of the process, a classic element of the riso charm! I love that these playful shifts and changes are entirely beyond my control, as though the machine is a collaborative partner adding its own personal touch to each print.
Georgia in the studio
Josephine: What’s coming up next for you?
Georgia: In October I have a month-long residency at Aga Lab in Amsterdam researching non-toxic stone lithography. I have spent most of this year developing and printing a series of large-scale silkscreen editions. So the slower pace of stone lithography will be a nice change. There is no digital element to my lithography, and I am looking forward to exploring the direct and drawing-based stone lithography process again.
Further Reading
Monotype Printmaking for Beginners
Woodcut Printmaking For Beginners – What You Need to Get Started
In Conversation With David Valliere From Speedball
Image Making with Screen Print, Linocut, and Gold Leaf
Shop Printmaking on jacksonsart.com
