Paula Pohli Lino Print Artist /statement/cv
I am a Lino printmaker based in my hometown Dublin. I try to combine the centuries old manual art of printmaking with a cautious application of modern motifs and colour. Although some of my prints, for example “Maize Maze” and “Glacier”, have been reduced to essential forms, they do not lose contact with reality. I make black and white prints since 1990, colour prints since 1995.
Style: Stylistically I was influenced by the composition of prints and drawings of past and modern Far Eastern printmasters (Japan and China). The strong colour palette of the German Expressionists, the black and white Graphic art of “Die Brücke”, the woodcuts of Lyonel Feininger and the playfulness of Paul Klee where strong connections for my art.
Motifs: The landscape Lino prints are based on motifs from Ireland and NorthWestern Europe. Recent linear prints, “Playing with Pythagoras” are playful Lino drawings.
Technique: All of my prints are hand produced, from the initial drawing through to the block cutting and printing stages. No computer drawings are used and no mechanisation is involved in printing images onto paper. Each print is hand pulled.
Inkmaking: Furthermore since 2001, I produce most of my own colour printing inks. Using mostly synthetic organic powder pigments and natural binders. This adds another layer of artistic control. The final colours of the prints are usually a blending of 3, 4, 5 or 6 different powder pigments. No dryers, additives, preservatives, or alcohols are used. Therefore some prints take 3-4 months to dry especially the red pigments. Printing by hand creates a chunky, impasto texture.
Printing: As each print is produced individually, small variations in the editions are probable. The mixing of 2-5 different pigments will of course lead to variant tones of colour during the different stages of printing.
Editions: Each print is unique but part of an edition. Editions are usually low: 1, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. Handburnishing marks are visible on the reverse of the Lino prints.
Biography: I was born and educated in Dublin. I studied art part-time at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. I also studied in Canada. I attended 5 years the Goethe Institute - evening classes, in Dublin learning German.
I discovered Lino block printmaking 1987. I began exhibiting some of my Lino prints in Dublin and in Galway 1990. I worked fulltime in Book restoration in Trinity College, Dublin1988-1992. I gave myself a long and careful printmaking apprenticeship.