Feature Artist - TIM LAURIN

TIM LAURIN

is a master printmaker from Ontario, Canada.

Working from his self renovated Octopus Studio Press site which, in a former life, was the one room 1938 Tyrone School, Tim skilfully combines new and old technologies to create absorbing artworks.

Originally trained as a fine craftsman working in metal and glass, Tim found himself drawn to the media of printmaking around 15 years ago.  Since then he has focused on alternative approaches to intaglio, which often incorporates photo-based sources.  Tim also began exploring the medium of Letterpress printing in 2008 working on a Vandercook Proofing Press #1 and an SP-15. 

The bookwork titled, Masc-U-line, is an exploration of self-identity and the social perception of masculinity.  Appropriating vintage photographs, I combine my photo types with short verse, using lead type in a traditional letterpress format.

The book, Some Men I Know, is a collection of ten portraits.  New technologies such as the internet and smart phones have dramatically changed how I interact with people.  Much of my socializing is now mediated through mobile apps on a 2 by 3 inch screen.  

This series of dry points is directly drawn from the photo-profiles of my acquaintances and have been created  using traditional techniques of drypoint and spit-bite etching. By using the screen capture function on my phone, I save the profile pic of my guy-pals and then begin scratching their likeness into a metal plate.  The result is a tiny print on Japanese washi tissue that is also laminated onto BFK cotton paper (chine colle)

ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT OF THE ARTIST TIMOTHY LAURIN