Screenprinting

What happens at Troppo? Sarah: We are an artist-run open-access print studio in Melbourne’s north. We hold workshops, run social happenings and offer fine-art screenprinting services.

Where’d you pick up your screenprinting skills? Matt: I did screenprinting during a signwriting course in the early 2000s and printed t-shirts in the backyard. I studied printmaking at university in 2013 and, after years, picked it up again. I haven’t put it back down since. Sarah: I started figuring things out for myself in 2008. I printed patches and posters as part of the DIY punk and psychobilly scene in London. Screenprinting existed in the background of all my jobs. I did it in the evenings in the garage and eventually in other people’s studios. I had the chance to have fun with it at RMIT and made big, glittery screenprints of a truck.

How does screenprinting work? Matt: You push ink through a screen (similar to a flyscreen) with a squeegee, onto a surface. You can get really technical from there by attaching a stencil to the screen with photosensitive emulsion, but you can also keep it basic and use a paper stencil with similar results. Sarah: At Troppo, we generally use a photographic emulsion to coat the screen and expose it to UV light, burning imagery into the emulsion.

What excites you about screenprinting? Matt: You can print on just about anything, and in multiples. It’s a versatile medium; I bounce from paper to textiles.

What aspects of screenprinting challenge you? Matt: It’s processbased and there’s a lot of setting up involved. It slows me down, which is a good thing. Sarah: I enjoy working with artists on editions, as every work presents a new challenge. Every image needs to be taken apart and put back together in a different way. There’s also a perception that screenprinting is a man’s world. Australia actually has an amazing history of female printers and collectives who affected the political landscape.

What are your goals for Troppo? Sarah: To promote screenprinting as a hands-on form of action and self-expression that can be put up in the streets. To be a space that allows printers to improve their skills, share their work, and join others in the process. I’d like to host a creative-in-residence and screenprint-specific exhibitions. Matt: Our Screen Print Social Club (SPSC) where we invite people to make prints together is a highlight of my month.

What’s the history behind the medium? Matt: I’ve read that it started in Polynesia using banana leaves, and in China using human hair for mesh. In Japan, they used silk for the mesh. Screenprinting was used for industry in the early 1900s in America, then for art from the 1930s. Currently, there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on in Peru with the Chicha posters. Kolkata, India, has great political and circus posters, and Yogyakarta, Indonesia, has an awesome printmaking scene.

Is the art of screenprinting flourishing or dying? Sarah: It’s flourishing internationally and steadily making a comeback in Australia. Some educational institutions view it as a dying art, but that can change. Screenprinting is amazing as it can be done with a small budget. It is contextually rich with connections to protest, trade and industry.

See more from Matt and Sarah at troppoprintstudio.com or on Instagram at @troppo_print_studio.