Zoe Anker: Print Process

Zoe Anker describes herself as “a very much process led artist” who “loves to work in a playful and free manner”. Thus, she rarely produces a full edition of work, preferring to work with one off pieces, often a small mini range on various scales. This “capsule collection” type of process and body of work is a nod towards her background in the Fashion Industry. She predominantly uses hand cut stencils within her screen prints; building up layer after layer and literally chopping and changing as she goes. “I never know the outcome of my work, and like it that way” says the printmaker.

“I have always loved working in this, what some may say a haphazard way, and I love the freedom to evolve as I am working” describes Zoe. However, this all changed when Coronavirus struck with the result of the lockdown in March 2020.

“I suddenly found myself not being able to get to my studio, (at Wimbledon Art Studios) and all the gallery interest and projects I was working on seemed to disappear overnight” states Zoe. Instead, she found herself homeschooling her two children; “It wasn’t a time I will look back on fondly, although my children would probably say different, they seemed to enjoy Homeschool in bed Fridays, and selfishly I just wanted to get on with my own work”. After a few weeks of this Zoe decided enough was enough. She turned the shed in the bottom of her garden into a home studio, retrieved all her paints, paper and screens and went back to creating and doing what she loves the most. However, it wasn’t all straightforward; “I quickly realised the slow and evolving way that I usually work wasn’t going to work. I didn’t have time on my side for that. Not only a teacher, I was also cook, with constant interruptions of ‘I’m hungry’, ‘whens lunch?’, ‘Can I go on Fortnite now?’, I had to completely change my process”. Zoe started pre-planning what she wanted to produce and pre-cutting her stencils in the evening to save time; “so I could literally escape for a while, do a few layers then come back into the house to deal with the children”. This wasn’t Zoe’s preferred way of working, she states; “I didn’t find it very motivating or exciting, but I did it as my means of escape; from my household, the worry of what was going on in the world, and to use some of the creativity that was buzzing around inside my head”.

Fast forward to September 2020, Zoe was so excited to get back to her studio, and for now continues to work away happily in her own way, no planning, no time constraints; “just random and happy”.

www.zoeankerart.com
@zoeanker

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