Melissa North is a London based illustrator and screenprinter creating vibrant artworks with a silk-screen print aesthetic. Influenced by analogue processes, Melissa collages together photographs and drawings to create illustrations that have a tactile quality.
Melissa grew up near Herne Bay in Kent before moving to London for University where she studied illustration and Visual Communication at Westminster. “The course there was pretty broad and we were encouraged to experiment a lot. I learnt about making my own cameras and developing my own film,” comments the printmaker. This led her on to playing around in the print room and falling in love with the screen printing process. Encouraged by Kate Gibb – one of many amazing tutors on the course – Melissa approached image making through screen printing in a very free way. She played with layering up sheets of paper with colour, drawings, and photos, and then cropping out sections of these to use for final illustrations. This experimental approach has always remained with her.
After graduating and a short break to do some travelling, Melissa moved back to London and established a small screenprint studio with some fellow creatives. She is now based in Brixton and creates all of her limited edition and commercial artworks in her shared studio space in South London. She also works under the collective name Underway Studio with three other artists in the studio to create and sell collaborative limited edition prints.
A lover of travel, Melissa often creates work about the places she has been (or would like to go to), taking particular inspiration from the architecture of these places and looking into any history or stories that may surround a location. Bringing her images to life with a narrative is an important part of her process and inspiration for this is found by researching local history, wildlife, or looking to the urban details of a location. Melissa’s bold colour palettes are inspired by combinations that she has used in the print room and give her artworks a joyful feel.
Photography and the screenprint process itself constantly influence her work even when working digitally. She tells us; “I see screenprinting as an extension of photography – the method of exposing a stencil on a screen with emulsion is also a photographic process!” Melissa places a lot of images and textures on a screen and collages them through printing, allowing her to discover new colour combinations and experiment with layering up different images and textures together. Melissa states; “I often find that the sheets of thin paper that I use to clear screens while printing an edition end up looking better than the final designs. They are full of happy accidents and unplanned compositions. I keep the best of these sheets to look to for inspiration in future projects and this is something that I try to replicate when working on commercial briefs.” A “complete hoarder” of any printed material, Melissa finds it hard to let go of any little scraps of paper or left over collage pieces. She pins these up on the cork board above her desk or pastes them into a sketchbook so they become a source of inspiration.
Melissa has previously worked for clients in the hospitality and healthcare sector and her portfolio includes packaging for beer, chocolate and drinks. She has just completed her biggest project to date, creating a bespoke series of corridor wall graphics for an entire ward at Chelsea and Westminster hospital in London. She is now looking to take on commissions from January 2023.
@melissa_north
www.melissa-north.com
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