Producing prints using a 3D-printed etching press

The Open Print Exchange

Today I visited Hurstville Museum & Gallery to view some of the entries in the latest Open Print Exchange. The gallery write-up included (in part) the following explanation.

The Open Print Exchange exhibition highlights a global exchange of hundreds of prints made by artists from around the world created utilising a tiny 3D-printed printing press. From professional printmakers to those artists experimenting for the first time, this exhibition highlights the possibilities of printmaking to the wider public, in turn uniting the global printmaking community to engage with accessible ways of creating works on paper.

The presses shown above, and many, many more from the same design, were used by their individual owners to create thousands of prints which were submitted for distribution and exhibition.

Here’s how the exchange works. Each person sent an edition of 10 prints, produced using a 3D-printed press, to a central location. They then received, in return, a package containing 9 random prints from other participants around the world. The 10th print was retained for exhibiting, to be entered into an online archive, and to form part of a catalogue.

The Hurstville Museum & Gallery is hosting a large exhibition showcasing some of the amazing and innovative prints, all produced from the same type of mini 3D-printed press.

Note in the images above they are all presented in exactly the same way, with the same framing. The frames were also 3D-printed.

Interested in getting involved in the next exchange and / or 3D-printing your own press? Head over to the Open Press Project website. Here are some useful links:

Website https://openpressproject.com/
Buy a 3D-printed press https://openpressproject.com/products/open-etching-press
3D-print your own press – instructions and downloadable files https://openpressproject.com/blogs/news/how-to-3d-print-your-own-printing-press
You can also register for the next exchange on the main site.

And a few of the ones I particularly liked. Click on any of them to view larger images.

Imagine my amazement – as I walked around the gallery trying to take in all these amazing works – to come across a beautiful print by Mark Lord from Lino Lord who I featured as my artist of the week in my previous post a couple of days ago.