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The DK Workshop welcomed back familiar faces this month, with Wilma Cruise, Deborah Bell and Colbert Mashile all returning to create new work. As well as working with these three artists, printers Jillian, Niall and Lungi have had other projects on the go. The editioning of several prints by William Kentridge has been taking place, whilst Lungi has been experimenting with the new wooden letters acquired for the letterpress. Artist Kudzi Chiurai has been in the studio working on some monotypes with printer Niall Bingham.

The opening of Strangelove’s exhibition on the 6th of September showcased the series of prints created in collaboration with DKW. These were a key element in the duo’s exhibition at David Krut Projects. The sixteen prints spanned the length of the gallery’s right wall, and looked stunning in the jet-black frames. The subtlety of the embossing was complimented by the delicate white contour lines of the prints. The fabric pattern pieces fused to the last ten prints in the series added another element to the prints and emphasised the relationship between these works on paper and Strangelove’s other works.

Wilma Cruise has been in the studio over the last four weeks, working on three large prints for her upcoming solo show in November. Each print is based on a sculpture by the artist; these three dimensional pieces are part of a huge body of work created for the exhibition. The show is centred on the relationship between people and animals. Cruise is specifically interested in the communication, or miss-communication, between people and animals – what she refers to as “the space between”.

The largest image is based on a sculpture, which Cruise refers to as ‘Cat-woman’. It is made up of three separate plates, all of which Cruise has been working on in stages in order to get the image just right. The plate was originally used to create a print entitled Harrismith, which was exhibited at UNISA in August of this year. The latest addition to the plate has been a box around the female figure’s head. The idea of covering up the figure’s head, cutting her off from the outside world, was something Cruise had intended to do with her sculpture.

The next two prints are slightly smaller, both featuring the Johannesburg skyline in the background. The first image was based on a fable involving a confrontation between a man and several smaller animals. The figure lies flat on the ground, pinned down by a dog standing on its torso, while a large menacing black chicken stands on the dog’s back. Cruise has played with colour and scale in this piece, especially in relation to the chicken, the dog and the figure. This print has been worked on over several stages until Cruise felt the image was working as a whole.

The second image comprises a figure looking inquisitively into a mirror. This image came much easier to the artist who worked on the plate at home and brought it in for printing. The surprise element in printmaking allows Cruise to develop her prints in stages as she makes amendments after seeing how each one turns out.

Colbert Mashile was in the studio the first weekend of September, during which time he produced four new etchings. The artist is known for working quickly and intuitively. He creates his images directly onto the plate, without any preparatory drawings. One image is still to be completed and all four are then to be printed in black.

Mashile has included text in each of the prints, all referencing religion. The two prints which read “Moruti – wa – lesela” and “Moruti – le – mkhokhedi” (pastor – of – crook, and pastor – with – curate, respectively) both feature a figure in a dark, menacing disguise. In the first image, the disguised character is faced with a bird atop a perch, in the second, he or she is straddling a figure on all fours.

The imagery in “Tumelo Ke Sera” (faith is enemy), is a more direct reference to the bible: there is a snake at the bottom of the image, underground, and figures atop the mountain, one with his arms extended and eyes blindfolded. The final image, which is yet to be completed, has on the left hand side a serpent-like creature of undeterminable size rising upwards. Facing it is a character resembling a crocodile. The text on this print reads “satani – tshaba – tseleng” (satan, out of the way). Mashile is due back in the workshop to complete this final image.

Just over a week later, Deborah Bell spent two days in the studio. The artist is currently working on some new prints, some of which are an extension of her earlier work, Poet. The other prints are the beginning of a new series linking to her “Museum Solstice Equinox” series.

The prints relating to Poet are to do with “symbolic poetic language…the word as object”. Bell is exploring the relationship between the written word, poetry, language and image. She has created six prints at the moment, all in drypoint.
In creating her new series of prints, Bell is employing drypoint, spitbite and aquatint, as well as experimenting with etching. These works are still in progress.

The month has ended with Niall’s collaboration with artist Kudzi Chiurai, who returned this week to work on some monotypes. Chiurai is new to the David Krut Print Workshop, having just held his third solo exhibition at Orbert Contemporary in Johannesburg. He is known for his political work, including a series of caricatures of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Due to these images and other overtly political statements made by Chiruai, he has been banned from returning to his native Zimbabwe.

Chiurai has been working on a large scale and has so far created two prints. For the first print the artist inked up one of his own stencils. The colours of this first piece are very vibrant and the stencil has also embossed the printed image into the paper. A ghost of this first work was then created, which Chiurai spray-painted on top of using another of his stencils.

The second print is still to be completed, but Chiurai is again employing vivid colours. The artist is keen to experiment with woodblock printing and has considered using this method to add to the first print he created and its ghost. It will be interesting to see how these works develop over the coming weeks.

Check back regularly for updates on the latest works to come out of our print workshop.

Keywords: Arts-and-Culture, Colbert Mashile, Deborah-Bell, Print Workshop, Wilma-Cruise