CAO Presents: Anna and Ben's Fine Art Print Store
Reconfiguring a Landscape from Above (Composition 1), Screen Print, Anna Marris, 2020
The Opening of CAO’s Fine Art Store
There is a new and exciting tab on Cultural Associates Oxford’s website, welcoming a dynamic range of handmade prints from Ben Topping and myself, Anna Marris. Teaming with CAO has enabled us to share our artworks and academic practices, making available a selection of signed and editioned prints to be readily purchased. From intaglio (etching, dry point, and engraving) to serigraphy (silk screen printing), our prints interconnect traditional and contemporary methods of printmaking, where creative experiments allow us to push the boundaries of what print has to offer in this digital age.
Creative practice and academic research lie at the heart of our experimentations within multidisciplinary printmaking, investigating the role of the image in a world that generates millions of images every day. Layers and process play integral parts in the creation of our artworks, allowing us to transition an image onto various materials, such as zinc plates and silk screens, and reveal the outcome on paper. The handmade quality of the printed image is highly visible in the textured surface; a build-up of ink or a compression into the paper presents a tactile nature to the images.
Night Before Morning, Etching, Ben Topping, 2021
The opening of our new store will better support our artistic journeys as we continue to fund the making of our works and tuition for higher education. This September Ben will enter his final year of study in BA Fine Art at Winchester School of Art. Recently, he has been exploring the mysteries of the nocturne and how it can enhance our imagination of the artworks by leaving aspects of the pieces shrouded. He investigates painting as a form of sketching, to conjure up ideas and compositions that he will take forward into traditional etchings processes. Ben’s work in plein air painting inspired an artist group, ‘Bad Weather’, at Winchester School of Art, where artists of all disciplines create work outside, allowing nature to have influence over their pieces; an integral part of Ben’s practice. As well as participating in various artist groups and projects, Ben has exhibited his works in the Winchester gallery.
Process Shot, Familiar and Unfamiliar Landscape, Screen Print by Anna Marris, 2020
During summer I graduated with a First-Class Honours Degree in BA in Fine Art from Winchester School of Art and will begin postgraduate study in MA Print at the Royal College of Art this September, continuing to develop within the interconnected realms of art, science, and technology. My practice explores operational imagery that unearth aspects of our lives, from the organisms within us, to the unchartered territories of our Ocean, Planet, and Solar System. Through active experimentation and intuitive approaches to making, I consider how the original meaning of an image is reworked and the concept rewired. I question how images project the world, capture newfound knowledge, and mark technological progress.
The natural landscape is a key theme within the visual and conceptual components of our practices, whether that is a local landscape or distant site. In depth investigation into a land’s history, present state, and potential shifts enable us to consider how time and human activity impact geographical structures. From photographs to satellite data to the microscopic lens, images of the landscape continuously reveal information whilst simultaneously opening opportunity for interpretation, allowing art, science, history, and technology to intertwine the aesthetic and epistemic.
Elated to officially open our store with CAO, we look forward to regularly updating print editions to the website as we continue to create work during our studies.
If you have taken interest in our visuals or academic research, visiting our Instagram pages will provide you with more of our work, processes, and investigations. We welcome any comments or questions you may have, which can be sent via Direct Message on Instagram: @itsthatanna @ben_topping_art or email us at: artstore@culturalassociates.co.uk
Installation View, Anna Marris, BA Fine Art Degree Show, Winchester School of Art, 2021
Anna Marris Fine Art Printmaker