Aga Lab Lithography Residencies

Since 2023 Georgia has undertaken a number of month-long research trips to Aga Lab print studio in Amsterdam, working as an artist in residence. During her residency periods she chose to refine her knowledge of both traditional and non-toxic stone lithography processes. Since 2023 lithography has been classified as a red list endangered craft in the UK. Georgia’s printmaking explorations developed into a series of playful editions, contemplating this beautiful printmaking technique.

Stone lithography is strongly connected to drawing and requires an organic and direct approach to mark-making. Lithography is a chemical medium, based on the principle that oil and water don’t mix. The artist draws with a greasy material directly onto a prepared matrix of limestone, before processing the stone over several hours or days with an ‘etch’ of nitric acid and gum arabic. The tactile and traditional nature of the technique contrasts to Georgia’s usual printmaking mediums, prompting her to relinquish the control she normally has over her designs. Any painted or drawn mark added to a stone becomes almost impossible to edit, which gives her lithograph editions a sense of immediacy and freedom. Non-toxic lithography is also distinct from its traditionally toxic counterpart, leading to variations in the subtlety of the etching process as a result. This variability has encouraged Georgia to approach the technique with versatility, examining how traditional printmaking can be adapted to fit within a contemporary, sustainable print studio setting.

The slightly surreal scenes Georgia depicts in her prints are influenced by a wide range of visual and written material, often including figures or animals as a narrative cue. She collects inspiration from children’s book illustrations, novels, poetry, frescoes, architecture and interior design. Sometimes she will combine characters lifted directly from or influenced by films or literature with interiors from her everyday life. Georgia watched a lot of Studio Ghibli as a child, and she has always been drawn to the hidden symbolism or dualism found in the animals, dwellings and characters from these beautiful films. Nothing is quite as it seems in the vivid, nature-saturated scenes of Princess Mononoke, My Neighbour Totoro or Spirited Away. While Georgia’s artistic style remains very different, the anthropomorphic animals sitting and sleeping in her lithographs relate in part to her love of these Studio Ghibli productions.