L White
Artist/Printmaker
My Practice
Since 2010 I have been a printmaker, mainly working with copper etching and exploring the direct, hand made processes of transferring images physically onto paper. The process of etching is experimental and sometimes laborious and I love that no matter how in control you feel, you never quite know what the result will be when you peel the paper from the plate. In my latest works I have experimented with re-etching, burnishing and engraving to create layers of built up tone and textures. I tend to continue reworking my plates to challenge the conventions of the limited edition and original print.
I started using analogue photography in 2018 as a way of collecting and documenting my observations and discoveries. Working with black and white film forces me to be more selective of each image that I take. When walking I might take 3 or 4 images on one journey and take my time, either waiting for the right light or stepping back and forth to get a different angle. I try to only take one shot and move on, which is a risk as it might not have worked, but it seems to enforce a memory each time of stopping in that place and taking notice.
As my creative practice has developed, I have become more and more aware of how this digital world has affected our way of viewing the physical environment we are in and on discovering the theory and practice of Psychogeography, my latest works form a response to the act of wandering and taking notice of different routes, spaces and architectural features of the city environment.
‘Walking is seen as contrary to the spirit of the modern city with its promotion of swift circulation and the street-level gaze that walking requires allows one to challenge the official representation of the city by cutting across established routes and exploring those marginal and forgotten areas often overlooked by the city’s inhabitants.’
Coverley, M 2010, Psychogeography (p.12)
Experience
I graduated with a BA in Fine Art at Norwich University of the Arts in 2010 and completed a Master of Arts in Printmaking at Cambridge School of Art (ARU) in September 2019.
As a freelance tutor and technician, I run intaglio and relief printmaking courses at Norwich Printmaking Hub, a non-profit, artist led organisation in the centre of Norwich that offers a range of short courses through out the year and the facilities to continue developing skills in a range of printmaking processes. I also run open access sessions as a technician working with graduates and new and established artists.
I am an experienced tutor, having taught for adult education in Norwich for 5 years (2013 -2018) and at Print to the People (now Norwich Printmaking Hub) since 2015. I have also taught creative arts as a sessional lecturer at City College Norwich since 2016 and am currently an associate lecturer, specialising in printmaking, on the BA Fine Art at Anglia Ruskin University.