Printmaking & stamp making with George Petsikopoulos

Visual artist George Petsikopoulos held a three-day printmaking and stamp-making workshop at Mile End Park Art Pavilion in East London inviting parents and children to work on unfamiliar crafts.

The Greek artist worked with children of all ages, piquing their curiosity; sharing with them the basics of his technique and encouraging them to work on their own individual and unique designs to incorporate into the collective’s final piece.

The Ocean African sat down with the multi-dimensional artist to learn more about his experiences working on collaborations and inspiring a new generation to take up art as true career.    


THE OCEAN AFRICA: What inspires you to work with other artists?

GEORGE PETSIKOPOULOS: It’s about collaborating, exchanging ideas, techniques. It’s like a dialogue, where you get to express yourself but you share the feeling with the artist as well.


OA: What do you look for when you decide to expand your artistic prowess?

GP: It could be anything, really. There are no limits. Depending on whether you’re working in 2D or 3D you have lots of options. Each time it’s something different.


OA: Among the artists you have worked with, whom do you feel contributed to your growth as an artist?

GP: Every single artist I’ve met so far! Two Greek artists stand out, Irini Gonou and Miltos Pantelias. I was privileged to work in their studio; they showed me a lot of stuff. I learnt a lot of printmaking techniques and I got a lot of inspiration regarding the way I work and the materials I use.

Lately I’ve been working with Malian artist Aboubakar Fofana. I assisted him recently on a project for Documenta 14. I was really interested to adopt natural pigments into my work. It was the first time I had the experience to do that, he is a great teacher and I still have a lot to learn. I feel I’m going to be a student my whole life. It doesn’t matter how old you are, you just keep learning new stuff that you can use for your work.

There are many many artists I could name but they are the ones that spring to mind.


OA: Tell us about your time working with Aboubakar Fofana in Greece.

GP: Aboubakar is a great teacher. I believe he’s a master at what he does, because it is a way of living, not a hobby. He has devoted his life to what he’s doing so, of course, his knowledge is immense.

I worked with him on his two projects, one for Documenta 14: Ka touba Farafina yé (“Africa Blessings”, 2017)  for Athens, Greece and Fundi (Uprising, 2017) for Kassel, Germany, which were physically demanding but I really enjoyed it! It may sound strange but I like to work that way. During the process I learnt how to set up vats and how to use indigo to dye. But it’s not just technical procedure; it’s a ritual the way Aboubakar (Fofana) does it. So you don’t have many options, you have to follow his ritual or you’re not really helpful. 



OA: Describe the feelings around the workshop as people experiment and listen to your advice on preparation and executing a piece of work.

GP: To be honest, there’s not much advice I can give to children so you just tell them what kind of materials they could use, the rough outcome and let them work. During the process, you could guide them in a way but still, they’re going to do things their own way.

My favourite part is when the children finish making the stencil. When they create the print, you can see it’s a whole new world to them! You can see they realise the whole point of what they were doing, then they won’t stop; they want more!


OA: Is this your first time working with children? What challenges did you face?

GP: I’ve worked with children before when I was an assistant in a ceramics studio a while back in Athens. A few times a week they had workshops, we did pottery and clay models. It was quite fun to get your hands dirty with the children. I don’t think I’ve faced any challenges with children, there’s nothing really difficult with kids apart from safety rules.



OA: What would you like people to take away from your printmaking workshop?

GP: There are a lot of people that love art but for some reason they don’t try do anything by themselves so they use the workshops to express their creativity and I think it’s up to them to take the knowledge home themselves, try improvise and try do a few things themselves.


The final piece

Follow George Petsikopoulos on Instagram or visit his website.


SAVE THE DATE:
GEORGE PETSIKOPOULOS: TRADITIONAL PATTERNS
A SOLO EXHIBITION
9 - 10 August 2018 
Private View: 9 August 2018, 6pm - 9pm. OLD BROMPTON GALLERY, 238 Old Brompton Road, London, SW5 0DE