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John Ingleton
John Ingleton is a principal member of the Hunter Island Press committee, working with enthusiasm to realise the goal of setting up a public access studio. He is currently studying at the University of Tasmania to complete his Master of Fine Art and Design in printmaking.
- LL: How long have you been working in printmaking?
- JI: I first made a linocut print in kindergarten and, although I cannot remember what it was, do remember running home to show my mother the image I had made from a piece of lino. Unfortunately it was to be another 50 years before I produced another print after the practicalities of life in a consumer society had run their course.
- LL: Do you concentrate on one medium, or do you use a few different techniques to create your work?
- JI: My work has usually been focused on lithography and screen printing with reliance on a computer as a tool for developing images. The advent of polyester plate lithography has allowed me to work more directly from my computer and therefore to extend my repertoire but like everything else it is only a means to an end.
Although lithography, screen and digital mark making are still the primary focus I have recently been experimenting with carborundum collography and returning to wood/lino cut image making.
The big breakthrough for me recently has been to realise that my art is not just about printmaking and marks on paper (or any other substrate) but about using whatever it takes to convey my message, This has lead to me constructing pieces, which may or may not include printing, and bringing them together in a way that allows me to tell my story. - LL: What is it about printmaking that inspires you to work this way, rather than painting for example?
- JI: Well, firstly, I have never learned painting or sculpture and came to printmaking via a background in Emedia and graphic design. I feel that it is the whole process thing that has seduced me. Having learned a trade in my youth and being more of a left brain person I think that it is the rationality of print-making that appeals to something deep inside me (however, I do think you have to be a bit of a masochist to be a lithographer). Much of my work revolves around experimentation i.e what happens if I do this or print on that (perhaps it is me still asking all the questions that used to drive my mother mad!).
- LL: What inspires your work at present and can you tell us a bit about your work?
- JI: Currently, I am working toward a Master of Fine Art and Design (a road taken to improve my image making skills) and am investigating the impact of Australian flora on French culture. This has turned out to be a major project which will need to be resolved through other means so I have been focusing on the environmental impact of these plants; collected by the early French explorers, propagated by the Empress Josephine and in the Jardin de Plantes some, like the Acacia melanoxylon and Eucalypt have become problematic while others are still grown as ornamentals in that country.
- LL: Has this been the basis for your work for a long time, or is it a recent passion?
- JI: Has this been the basis for your work for a long time, or is it a recent passion?
This work has grown out of earlier investigations into the early English and French explorers. However, having studied horticulture and been involved in plant propagation and landscaping I guess it is a sort of natural outcome. - LL: How much do you think living in Tasmania influences your work?
- JI: Immensely, if my partner and I had not made the decision to move to Tasmania in 1991 then we would probably still be caught up on the merry-go-round that is life in a big city on the mainland.
We had travelled fairly extensively around the state exploring much of what it has to offer but it was the occasion of the Tasmanian bi-centenary that got me thinking about the early explorers, specifically the French, and wondering what would have happened if they had claimed Van Deimen’s Land for France. Like most Australians I had almost no idea of the extent of French exploration and their contribution to our knowledge of this land.. - LL: Are there any artists that you look to for inspiration?
- JI: Many – Fred Williams, John Olsen, Bruno Leti, John Wolesely, Jorg Schmeisser, Milan Milojevic, Ray Arnold, Jennifer Marshall, Bea Maddock, Barbie Kjar, Michael Kempson, Kaye Green, Fiona Hall, to name but a few. I have just discovered Janet Laurence who’s work I find fascinating – the scope of her projects is inspirational.
- LL: What ambitions do you have for your continued development as an artist?
- JI: I have been involved in the development of Hunter Island Press since its inception and will continue to work with this group to develop opportunities for Tasmanian printmakers in both the domestic and international environments as opportunities arise.
For myself, I am hoping to return to Paris in 2009 to continue my research into the use of Australian floral motifs in French design which emerged from around 1895. It seems that floral motifs will continue to predominate in my work. - LL: What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?
- JI: Be true to your own vision and don’t be afraid have a go – keep knocking on doors, keep trying, never give up.
- LL: Where do you see yourself in three years time?
- JI: Possible working on a PhD, or writing a book, but still making prints and still working with HIP.
