EtchingMemberMono-printPrintmakingScreen PrintSolo artist

Brie Barnacle

posted by POP Members January 24, 2025

Working from Bristol, UK, Brie Barnacle is an experimental printmaker who explores the medium of landscape as a metaphor for her lived experience of mothering and self-discovery. Using printmaking to capture the vitality of her children’s movement through nature, offering permanence to fleeting memories, Brie’s prints honour the connection between humans and nature, showing how our memories are shaped by both. Over time, her art has shifted from depicting literal landscapes to exploring themes of change, fragility, and growth—both in nature and in motherhood. Discovering the word “matrescence” (the process of becoming a mother) helped Brie connect the dots between the landscape’s unpredictable terrains and motherhood’s transformation. Her prints are a reflection of matrescence—the journey of being a mother, full of love and complex feelings.

Brie tell us; “For me, printmaking is a perfect medium to express my constant flow of ideas and experiences. It allows me to experiment, fail, and reinvent—constantly finding new connections between different elements. I thrive on the unexpected outcomes that printmaking offers, using mistakes and chance to create a dynamic dialogue between materials and ideas.” She first discovered printmaking at school and fell instantly in love with it. Brie subsequently went on to study a BA Hons in Fine Art, specialising in printmaking which was the start of a lifelong love of the medium. She has been a practising printmaker and member of the Bath Society of Artists for the last 20 years and has exhibited nationally and internationally. This year, Brie completed a Masters Degree gaining a distinction in Multidisciplinary at the University of West of England, and was also awarded the Clifford Moss Memorial Prize for the most significant contribution to the technical aspects of multidisciplinary printmaking.

Her experimental process blends different techniques, creating unexpected results. “For example, I discovered a unique printing technique when attempting to screen print onto an etching and ink was accidentally transferred onto the back of the screen leaving an echo of a print, which I subsequently printed to gain a beautifully fragmented image,” states Brie. With a passion for experimentation, Brie thrives on the novelty and unpredictability that printmaking offers, and her process often involves a lot of play, meaning the work emerges as she creates it. She continues; “The spontaneity in my process has led to some surprising discoveries, such as using welding tools to alter old steel plates, which added a raw, energetic quality to my work. These marks, created through impulsive, physical actions, speak to the contradictions I experience as a woman and an artist.”

Her process of creation normally involves working on multiple matrixes simultaneously in order to encourage a feedback loop where the process governs her making and she is led by the materials. Brie often combines mediums; layering monotype, screenprinting, painting, and etching. This method rarely results in the creation of large editions, and instead Brie creates works with hand-painted, hand-drawn, or monotype elements.

Currently, Brie is focusing her work on the experience of walking in nature. “As an artist, walking offers me clarity, connection, and a space to reflect. The rhythm of my steps helps quiet my mind, allowing me to understand myself better, especially in my role as a mother,” says the printmaker. Collaborating with her son who takes photos of the landscape during their walks, Brie turns the abstract images into prints that capture the fleeting, energetic quality of youth and time. This body of work has resulted in a series of etchings that she made into an artist book called Family Walk, in which she investigates ideas about absence, memory, and shared experiences.

Brie concludes; “Ultimately, I hope my work encourages a more respectful and nurturing relationship with the landscape—one that celebrates care, connection, and mutual dependence. I also hope it resonates with other artists, particularly mothers, who are navigating their identities and finding their place through their creative work.”

www.briebarnacle.com
@briebarnacleprints

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