Eleanor Keith is a print maker and artist who is currently an artist in residence at Ocean Studios, as part of Print in Action. We caught up with Eleanor to find out more about her practice and what she’s working on at the moment.
“I have recently graduated from Arts University Plymouth with a degree in Painting, Drawing and Printmaking. My main focus over these three years of the degree has been relief printmaking, specifically linocut and woodcut, stemming from drawings made when out in Plymouth of things in the environment that catch my eye. I transform perhaps mundane things into art, breaking them down into colours and shapes to form layers in and translate these into reduction prints. Materiality and the surface of the plate is also a key element in my work and experiments with the surface and texture of the matrix can lead to more abstract prints, usually with a focus on the grain of the wood or solidity of a lino block.”
Eleanor is inspired by many things in our natural environment. “Overlooked, mundane things in the environment around me inspire me and my work and I enjoy looking at these things in lots of detail and showing my view of them through my work.
Writer Georges Perec has been a huge inspiration for me recently, in particular his books ‘Species of Spaces and Other Pieces’ and ‘An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris’, in which he writes down his observations of what is around him, no matter how boring it may seem to others.
As for artists, Helen Frankenthaler’s exhibition ‘Radical Beauty’ made me realise the potential of woodcuts and led me to experiment further with these medium which developed my printmaking massively.”
Eleanor has lots of exciting projects coming up; “I’m continuing to develop my prints and explore the potential of relief printmaking. I’m working on making drawings and prints inspired by the time I spend at Royal William Yard whilst doing my print residency at Ocean Studios and seeing where this takes me. I’m also working on turning my old work into artist books and experimenting with book folding.”
You can find out more about Eleanor’s work on her website here and follow her on Instagram @ejmkeithart. Find out more about Print in Action here.