SER19036.2 - JJ2 - Masks II  Limited Edition of - 150 ex. 1997

Image - 19×36 cm - Paper - Fabriano 350 grs.

As a process of graphic reproduction screen printing is a method developed from techniques first used by the Chinese many centuries ago, but virtually unknown in the West until the middle of the present century.

The screen-printing net consists simply of a rectangular frame on which a knitted fabric is stretched that was traditionally silk, now being artificial fibre, forming what is after all an extremely fine screen.

The fabric is covered with a suitable 'matrix' (e.g. wax) at all points where the image is to be white, i.e. not printed. The ink will only pass, by pressure, through the unblocked areas of the silk, corresponding to the spot to be printed on the substrate (paper, canvas, etc.) underneath the silk. Only one colour of ink is used for each print, which implies repeated operations until the desired shades are reached. Some editions require more than a hundred shades.

Screen printing is, after all, a development of stamping symbols and other themes onto an appropriately engraved plate. With this technique it is possible to achieve quite sophisticated results, such as the ones we are presenting here.