Stop 5

Virtual World Tour 2021 Demonstration 5

Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Venice, Italy

Duration: 1 hour, 48 minutes

Collagraph with Alessia De Bortoli

Founded in 1969, the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Venezia is an international institution located in the heart of historic Venice, Italy. The Scuola offers several courses dedicated to sustainable printmaking during the academic year and organizes artist residencies that emerge the visiting artists in the life of the lagoon and the daily work in the print shop. In 2018, studio manager Roberta Feoli was in residence at Zea Mays Printmaking and the link between our two organizations was formed. Right before the pandemic hit in 2020, ZMP’s Liz Chalfin and Sheldon Carroll were invited for a residency at the Scuola and had the immense pleasure of working with Alessia De Bortoli, the School’s instructor and shop technician.

Alessia’s enthusiasm for all things print and book arts is contagious, and we were thrilled to join her for a visit to the beautiful studios of the Scuola and to explore Collagraph printmaking with her.

Collagraph is a very enjoyable printmaking technique, allowing diverse means of artistic expression. Using simple materials such as cardboard, paper, tapes, textures, and carborundum grit to create plates that can be inked and printed in a myriad of ways.

Alessia shows us how to create a collagraph plate and the procedure for printing it both as an intaglio and a relief print, using an etching press. She shares collagraph prints made at the School that illustrate the range of possibilities of this process. We also get a guided tour of the fantastic studios at the Scuola and learn about the programs they offer to international artists.