Planting, transplanting - how about printing plants? Spring madness has taken over our home gardens, windowsills, flowerbeds and pot stands. If you still can't get enough, or if live plants aren't for you, take a peek at the floral (and not only) realizations of Cracow artist Justyna Mazur of Studio Litograf.
Even before the outbreak of the pandemic, Justyna held stationary a series of creative workshops for all those thirsty for handicrafts, but also sold prints. The artist does not limit herself to lithographic printing on a sheet of paper - her activities go beyond the paper, and thanks to her unfettered imagination, she continues to expand the field of her printing art. She prints on stone, fabric and even on the wall....
Basia Hyjek: Why exactly lithography? Why didn't you choose painting or sculpture, for example?
Justyna Mazur: My painting professor in college called me chiquita, because everything quickly became too yellow. I like color, but I use very little of it. Graphic design is about working with synthesis, limiting myself to symbols, mental shorthand, infographics, monochrome actions. Of course, in those days I had complexes, because I wanted to paint as well as others. A professor from sculpture said she saw me working with stone. She predicted the future, because lithography is working with greasing stones and reflecting them on paper. I excel in graphic thinking - I'm fascinated by all the techniques of hand printing, including monotype, which is the reflection of plants.
Basia: Where did the idea of printing leaves on walls come from?
Justyna: Printing mostly uses paper, secondarily fabric. As one experiments with printmaking, one prints "everything on everything." I have an American artist friend Eszter Szkisz, who prints on ice, soap and the edges of cards! The wall just begs for it. I love printing on wood. I hope to realize printing on a wooden floor someday.
Printing on the wall
Photo by Joanna Rytter
Basia: Tell us about the project in which you printed plants on the wall of your apartment. How was the cooperation with the architects?
Justyna: Interior architects have a rich imagination, but also responsibility for the result. So far I have managed to complete one wall in cooperation with architects. I usually print under my own name and at my own risk, because the thing with monotyping is that I can't sell a specific design, like wallpaper. Instead, I can arrange for a specific selection of plants and color. It is possible to specify the dominant, that is, the place most intensively printed. Often the owners of the interior are present during my implementation, and we discuss on an ongoing basis how much more to expand the forms.
Basia: How does such a printing process briefly look like? Which plants can be printed, and which are not suitable for this?
Justyna: Most often it looks like this: interior owners write to me that they have a wall (laughs). They specify its square footage and send me photos. Then I suggest the choice of plants, prepare outline sketches of the dominant, choose the color. Then I send a quote and after they give me a confirmation of the order, I get to work. I collect the plants - freshly picked, not too large to be able to do the printing by hand. 3D plants, i.e. flower heads, are not suitable for printing. It is best to use leaves. I print one square meter of wall about one hour. I use oil paints, resistant to washing and light.
Check out the video of the interior realization of Studio Lithograph by Justyna Mazur in cooperation with the architects of the studio tailor-made architecture.
