Biography

Chika Ito works at Kurtface since 2005, and she prints with her handmade starch-based inks. She developed a special way of making paste (wheat, rice, and other starch) and Paste-based Inks (with colourants from plants etc) and printing with these Paste-based Inks.

Workshop Demonstration

Exploring silkscreeninks the Dutch-Japanese way
We will demonstrate how we explore the use of ink in Kurtface silkscreen studio in the Netherlands. First half of our demonstration, Wim  Habraken will demonstrate the use of ‘industrial’ inkts in the artist practice.  The demonstration could be best described as industrial and technical applications in silkscreen, for the artist and art practice.
The following techniques will be demonstrated;
* Thermo-chemical inks, inks that vanish under the influence of heat
* Phosphorescent inks in various colours
* 3 D inks, so-called Foam-inks, flock print
* Watercolour inks
* Inks that change under the influence of lights
* Edible inks
* Odour inks
* Foil-on prints
* Combination of inkjet printing, Photoshop and silkscreen printing
He will present artist’s finished graphic examples of these inks and processes and will give a practical demonstration of their use. This demonstration will focus on the principles of bringing industrial techniques within the reach of the artist.
Second half, Chika Ito will demonstrate pastemaking with different kind of starch and materials. Paste can be used as a base for ink, and can be combined with many other printmaking techniques. Using paste in Printmaking and other art especially on paper, is japanese tradition. It is simple, sustainable and is very stable over time. Pastemaking is Low-cost, and Low-technique, and using Paste is Low-impact to the environment and Less-harm for Printmakers.
The following will be demonstrated;
*Rice-starch based ink base recipe
*Wheat-starch based ink base recipe
*Corn-starch based ink base recipe
*Ink recipe with plants extracts
*Ink recipe with pigments
*Ink recipe with other colourlants
*Printing tips and layering