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One of my favorite things about working with Kay was that we would vary our work, it wasn’t always
stuffing and sewing. One week Kay and I worked on a personal project she had going on, screenprinting
some tshirts for a friend. I have done screenprinting before but it has been a while, since junior year of
high school (2009!). It was nice to see how DIY it can be, I had used a big expensive vacuum exposure
table in school. The one they had at the studio was made with some tube lights, a table, plexiglass, a
masonite cover, and with the help of some weights on top during exposure, you can burn your own
screens! I was happy to have seen the process Kay used, because she uses screenprinting in her
work a lot despite the fact that we didn’t do any more of it during our work together.
stuffing and sewing. One week Kay and I worked on a personal project she had going on, screenprinting
some tshirts for a friend. I have done screenprinting before but it has been a while, since junior year of
high school (2009!). It was nice to see how DIY it can be, I had used a big expensive vacuum exposure
table in school. The one they had at the studio was made with some tube lights, a table, plexiglass, a
masonite cover, and with the help of some weights on top during exposure, you can burn your own
screens! I was happy to have seen the process Kay used, because she uses screenprinting in her
work a lot despite the fact that we didn’t do any more of it during our work together.
Kay has a whole cabinet full of prints and positives for screens in a side room off the studio. She
showed me how she would seal the room when she was prepping the screen with emulsion and again
the process when she would burn a screen. We didn’t need to prep emulsion that day because Kay
had an extra screen lying around that was already prepared, so it was just a single day process. After
setting the design and screen in the table to burn, we put the weights on, turned on the lights, and set
the timer. I have always found photo emulsion, its connections to photography, and any art forms using
light very interesting. My science-loving background is very aware of all the chemistry involved, I just
would be so interested in understanding it all or using it in my work somehow. Anyway, after the screen
is done burning, you spray out what has not been exposed and there is blank screen for ink to flow
through. I love this last reveal step, it’s always so satisfying.
showed me how she would seal the room when she was prepping the screen with emulsion and again
the process when she would burn a screen. We didn’t need to prep emulsion that day because Kay
had an extra screen lying around that was already prepared, so it was just a single day process. After
setting the design and screen in the table to burn, we put the weights on, turned on the lights, and set
the timer. I have always found photo emulsion, its connections to photography, and any art forms using
light very interesting. My science-loving background is very aware of all the chemistry involved, I just
would be so interested in understanding it all or using it in my work somehow. Anyway, after the screen
is done burning, you spray out what has not been exposed and there is blank screen for ink to flow
through. I love this last reveal step, it’s always so satisfying.
Kay printed the shirts over a weekend and they turned out lovely. We didn’t do anything with screens
for a while until I spent a day a few weeks later reclaiming some- that’s some labor intensive intern
work for you, haha! Though it’s not super fun, it is satisfying to see a perfectly clear screen after
putting in some elbow grease. Basically you just soak the screens in solvent, scrub the heck out of
them, and power wash them. At least I was all safety geared up, more of which I’ll talk about in my next
post!
for a while until I spent a day a few weeks later reclaiming some- that’s some labor intensive intern
work for you, haha! Though it’s not super fun, it is satisfying to see a perfectly clear screen after
putting in some elbow grease. Basically you just soak the screens in solvent, scrub the heck out of
them, and power wash them. At least I was all safety geared up, more of which I’ll talk about in my next
post!
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