Printmaking Today 

Volume 35 Spring 2026 Issue 137

Editors Welcome - Leonie Bradley RE

Wood is everything for Kang Jianfei, it shapes his entire existence. His cover artwork ways of Looking at a Blackbird is compared to an ongoing, multi-dimensional theatre project that has so far included installation, performance art, interactive apps, sculpture and film. Derek Michael Besant RCA presents a profile of two artists, Hideki Kimura and William Laing, who also present their print work like stage sets on shelves and Emma Hill looks at the signature prints works of Ken Kiff. Continuing the theme of stages and performance, Suzanne Moxhay ARE describes the construction of the intimate and elaborate sets for her prints. The use of photopolymer is widespread but often misunderstood and we share the thoughts on the potential of this technique from some leading practitioners. We look at two different community print projects: IKON Gallery’s Art in Prisons programme and The People Powered Press project. We also celebrate Sara Clark and Yao Jialu, who present the ideas behind their prizewinning prints. Much to mull over this springtime!

Printmaker’s Diary
Director of the Centre for Print Research Professor Carinna Parraman reports on their Paper Symposium and a colourful season of shows

Cuttings

CONFERENCE
Material Thinking

PRINT RELEASE
Call & Response 

AWARD CUTTINGS
Edging Out Painting

PROJECT
Tiny Imprints

EXHIBITION
Mapping the familiar

ELECTION
New AREs 2026

EXPANDED PRACTICE
Water, water, everywhere

Printing Metamorphosis

PROFILE
Destiny of the Timberverse
For Professor Kang Jianfei Hon RE, wood defines every aspect of his art from material and process to final output, writes Haiyao Zheng

#WIP
Suspension of Disbelief
Suzanne Moxhay ARE describes her process of constructing intricate sets using filmmaking techniques to evoke narratives of what lies inside

PROFILE
Poetic Journeys
Emma Hill selects some highlights from the catalogue of immediate yet delicate prints by Ken Ki RA that tease out the strengths of each technique

EDUCATION
Printmaking at HMP Grendon
Dr Catherine Cartwright visits HMP Grendon to see the impact of the Art in Prisons programme established by Ikon Gallery

ARTISTS’ BOOKS
Joie de Vivre
Sarah Bodman talks with Sarah Boris about her love of joyful colours and how she uses screenprint to express solidarity and hope

PROFILE
Ground Control
Derek Michael Besant RCA on the intimately-scaled ‘shelf’ landscapes of William Laing and Hideki Kimura that take printmaking into another dimension

COMMUNITY PROJECT
Building Blocks
On the publication of their book Together documenting community-led murals, David Armes reports on The People Powered Press

FAIR
The Glastonbury of Printmaking
Helen Rosslyn and Alice St Clair talk to Leonie Bradley about the London Original Print Fair, an unrivalled institution uniting the print world

ARTIST'S EYE
The Space of Looking 
Jialu Yao was awarded the Printmaking Today prize at the RE’s International Original Print Exhibition for her lithograph The Gate

Obituary
Professor Alistair Crawford RCA, HonRE   (1945-2025)

TECHNICAL
A misunderstood medium?
Marian Kilpatrick looks at some misconceptions about photopolymer print and uncovers some of the joys and challenges of the process

Bookshelf
Marcus Rees Roberts
Artist

BOOK REVIEWS
Patrick Procktor: The Complete Prints
Modern Japanese Printmakers: New Waves and Eruptions
The Art of Roslyn Kean

Resources

Opportunities

Previews
Sidney Nolan: Tending to Nowhere
28 Mar–28 Jun
Rodd Court, Presteigne, LD8 2LL
sidneynolantrust.org

Filipe Baeza: Anima
Until 23 May
Print Center New York, 535 West 24th Street, New York 10011, USA
printcenternewyork.org

Caroline AreskogJones: autopsie
Until 26 Mar
Drawing Room London, Unit 1B Tannery Way, London SE1 5WS
drawingroom.org.uk

Listings

ARTIST'S EYE
Resting Forms
Sara Clark was awarded the Printmaking Today prize at the Ironbridge Fine Arts Printmaking Competition 2025 for her woodcut Resting Forms