Staff member of Centre for Print Research, Wuon-Gean Ho, is featured in V&A film

Wuon-Gean Ho, a staff member at the Centre for Print Research (CFPR), carries out independent research through her creative practice of making prints. It can be difficult to define exactly where the creative process lies. However, in this new film, made by the Victoria and Albert Museum in March 22, Wuon-Gean shows how she makes her linocut images in the studio and at home.

Wuon-Gean explains further,

“In this film I demonstrate how my recent series of hundreds of linocut prints was driven by two broad questions: How can I create a slow image that takes time to read? and What makes an image funny? My conclusion is that the visual equivalent of keeping a straight face while telling a joke is to create a believable sense of space and place in which to locate the action, the human narrative.”

In 2020, at the Centre for Print Research, Wuon-Gean launched an academic journal for printmaking, which she continues to edit. Titled the IMPACT Printmaking Journal, it showcases new techniques, historical surveys, personal reflections and insider observations. It ties in with the centre’s broader interdisciplinary approach to printmaking and new technology.

She explains,

“Submissions come in from all over the world. I’ve enjoyed working alongside such a diverse range of voices and insights. Being a printmaker myself results in a deep appreciation of print processes and elusive results: I understand what it is like for others to pose similar questions and to try to achieve something through the physical handling of ink and materials.”

For many, printmaking is a democratic medium, located in the easy dissemination of affordable and enjoyable images. Wuon-Gean’s prints were pinned on the wall of her dad’s room in the care home and posted online, to entertain and provoke discussion. In the current age of speedy digital communication, real ink on paper has an enduring quality, appealing to our senses of touch, smell and texture.

Wuon-Gean is currently putting together ideas for a panel on colour blends in print at the upcoming IMPACT printmaking conference, which the CFPR will hold in September. For more information, please visit the website www.cfpr.uwe.ac.uk.