Ynys Seiriol

Limited edition linocut print (unframed)

15.3 x 20.3 cm (printed area)

Number of prints in the edition: 12

Exhibited at the Royal Cambrian Academy Open Exhibition, 2023.

During a visit to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), I came upon the work of the Belgian abstract painter Michel Seuphor. Inspired by his use of line, and in particular by his piece À force de tourner en rond autour de rien on finit par voir que tout est immobile et que l'instant égale l'éternité, I came back from Antwerp keen to work on a seascape.

Ynys Seiriol (known in English as Puffin Island) sits off the eastern-most tip of Ynys Môn (Anglesey). Home to puffins, and haunt of seals and porpoise, the Island steals my eye when I walk the beach near my house and it presented itself as an immediate subject for study and the focal point of this piece. I have rowed around the island, but unlike the saint after whom it is named, I have never yet set foot on it.

Each print in the edition is hand-pressed to Awagami Bamboo Select using a ball-bearing baren and a silver spoon. The ink used is Hawthorn Stay Open Carbon Black oil-based ink. Bamboo select is a mid-weight archival washi paper (170 gsm) made from 70 % bamboo and 30 % recycled pulp. It has a small ecological footprint and a pleasing weight. The sheets have been hand-torn to create faux deckles and each measures approximately 21.5 x 26.5 cm.

The edition is limited to 12 prints in total, each of which I have signed, dated, numbered and titled in soft pencil beneath the printed area.