DKW Intern | Sarah Hunkin


I have come to realize that a print workshop like David Krut, is not all about the inking up and printing, it’s a huge part but definitely not the only thing that happens in the studio.

I am Sarah, a 4th year BA Fine Arts student, studying at Wits University and I’m majoring in Linocut printmaking, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to intern at the David Krut Workshop at Arts On Main.

I started interning in the workshop in February this year and have been able to move around the space and learn as much as I can about different things instead of focusing on one aspect of the workshop, which has been incredibly beneficial.

So here are just a few things that I’ve learnt or have been involved with:

Proofs of Deborah Bell’s Frail Crown, printed by Chad Cordeiro

Chine Collé. A French term, directly translated as “paper and glue”, a technique that I didn’t know existed but can make such a difference in a print. Applying a form of adhesive like Methyl Celulose to a piece of paper, letting it dry and then adhering it to another piece of paper. I’ve made it sound super easy but trust me, it needs lots of practice, although, once you get the hang of it, man the things you can do are cool. The results can vary from using it as a slight shift in tone of a print to using cut outs of different or the same colour and even texture in monotypes. The projects that incorporate this technique that I have assisted on have been with printer Kim-Lee Loggenberg and Chad Cordeiro on Deborah Bell’s prints. I have also assisted with Mongezi Ncaphayi’s recent monotype series.

Printing Mongezi Ncaphayis monotype with chine collé

Making boxes. I never thought I’d be making boxes out of foam core and tape in the workshop but it happened. A really great skill to learn and important for safely packaging books, prints, you name it.

Book binding. another thing that I never thought I’d do in the workshop. William Kentridge has an incredible series of large scale woodcut prints called Triumphs and Laments Woodcuts, the prints are very big (roughly 2 x 2m once assembled) and are put together sort of like an intricate puzzle using a template (which was one of the first things I did here, accurately hand drawn and colour coded on large sheets of acetate) and Assembly instructions. When they are sold, the print comes in pieces, along with the very detailed Assembly Instructions and information about the selected print. The books that we made are then used to hold the Assembly instructions and other information, which are then packaged in the boxes that we’ve been making.

Helping Master Printer Jillian Ross assemble the large William Kentridge woodcut That Which I do not remember from the Triumphs and Laments Woodcuts series

Sarah has been an intern at the David Krut Workshop from February 2018.

Read more about the workshop on the Print Workshop Blog.

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