Imprint – Quarterly Journal of the Print Council of Australia Inc.
Winter 1998 Volume 33 Number 2

Printmaking with Photopolymer Plates by Dianne Longley
Illumination Press 1998

As like a number of young printmakers in the late 1970s I explored print traditions, played with new technologies and became heavily involved in the bravado of the medium, but health and safety concerns were far from our minds. Many evenings we left the studio, worn out and tired from a long day of technique and process often only vaguely commenting on fumes and chemicals and their effect on us. We thought a run or a long walk would clear the air and improve our health.

One evening I left the studio to prepare dinner for some friends and while gazing at cheese in the supermarket heard one of the staff ask “What is that horrible smell?”. I realised it was me as I carried toxic fumes of my day around with me. Over the 1980s the artists who taught us seemed to suffer a range of acute health problems and we began to wonder about the effects of the chemicals and other substances on us. Many abandoned printmaking for safety and creativity.

It was therefore with interest that I picked up Dianne Longley’s Printmaking with Photopolymer Plates. Its subtitle A new, safe, versatile printmaking technique for artists and students caught my eye immediately. In this publication Longley has used her skills as printmaker, her environmental concerns and wide teaching experience to produce a book on a printmaking process that can be used safely and creatively.

Photopolymer printmaking involves the use of photosensitive plates that are exposed to sunlight and developed using water. The process is clean, easy and safe to use. It also look fun and gives many opportunities for individual practitioners to explore their ideas. Longley’s book covers the traditions of printmaking, examines this process in great detail and contains comprehensive notes on technique. The technical specifications of processing, a glossary, bibliography and suppliers are all included, as is a useful index. The health and safety section highlights Longley’s interest in keeping the environmental concerns an important part of the focus.

The book has a key element of drawing upon the experience and work of practising artists working in a community framework and this enables the process to come to life. It also enhances printmaking’s continued relevance and role within art making. In a new safer environment the traditions, techniques and approaches of printmaking are well placed to make use of digital technologies. This provides artist of all ages with the potential to represent a wide range of images and ideas. Not only does the photopolymer plate process seem to offer this in a safe environment, but books like Longley’s form an important part in educating us to its uses.

Colin Simpson

Visual arts writer and teacher living in Melbourne. Art critic for the Bulletin and co-author of the Art Now series published by McGraw-Hill Book company.