Member Spotlight: Nicky Sanderson

A selection of Nicky's works are available in our shop and online.

 

This September, we are happy to announce that we have chosen Nicky Sanderson as our spotlighted member! Recently, Nicky has been repurposing marine charts as the background for her nautical - themed prints. At the moment, she is busy making a screen print about the pilot whales which beached on the Isle of Lewis last July. 

 
Here is some information from Nicky about what inspires her printmaking practice:

 

 "I have connected with Edinburgh Printmakers over many years, since the early 1980s! Initially I made etchings inspired by a travel bursary to Mexico when the workshop was in the Fruitmarket. Later in the 1990s, when my children were young, I re-joined at the Union Street workshop and made small (ie. inexpensive, due to family budget constraints!) screenprints, using calligraphy which I had been learning at night classes at ECA. They were based on Scottish nursery rhymes.

 

From 2010, I started visiting the Isle of Lewis and Harris frequently. I made screen prints based on the geological and archeological layers of the Lewis landscape at the Union Street studio during the last year or so of EP's tenancy. I returned to screen printing at Castle Mills after lockdown in 2021, and continue to be committed to the workshop’s great facilities and lovely staff.

 

Having acquired a collection of out of date marine charts from a sailor friend, my practice currently examines island landscapes, the coasts and seas of Scotland, focusing on marine ecologies and species, as well as the stories of each location. I am investigating how best to achieve this in the context of climate change and to encourage a respect for conservation of our environment.

 

It’s crucial for me as an artist, to view the world through a connection with colour, surface and texture as an expression of place and story. I love researching the history and detail of place and human impact; translating this to visual image or calligraphic lines of prose or poetry is my way of processing that information.

 

I tend to work a lot in screen printing because, even after 40 years, it’s still fascinating for me. It allows for so many ways of achieving texture with combinations of drawing and painting, especially on variable surfaces, which for me recently has been various types of tissue paper.  These tissue sheets are gradually turning into a project in the form of marine hangings. 

 

Monoprint and cyanotype are next on my to-do list because the results are less predictable and lead to spontaneously creative ideas. I’m also keen to explore collagraph and laser-cut soon, as I have a few ideas brewing.  I just need to learn how to make more time!

 

More information about Nicky Sanderson and her practice can be found here: 

 

Website: https://nickysanderson.co.uk/ 

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicky_sanderson/  

12 Sep 2023
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