Working with Dr Heather Mullender Ross and the Women in Print Project ::::::

The studios worked with Heather Mullender Ross who in collaboration with Lukas Hornby published research Making Visible the Archive of Gwyneth Alban Davis 2017 which involved the restoration and re-printing of Gwyneth’s archive and the production of a book of essays and prints. Gwyneth Alban Davis who in the 1940’s challenged 20^th century patriarchy through her artistic practice contributing to the history of the Merz Barn and the Lake District in the 1940s. This was the catalyst for Women in Print a one-day symposium curated and hosted by Artlab CPS and held at The Harris Museum in May 2018, following an invitation by Lubaina Himid to contribute to a series of programmed events, which ran alongside her exhibition Hard Times (Part of the touring exhibition funded by Arts Council Strategic Touring Programme).

The symposium explored contemporary print in response to the legacy of Gwyneth Alban Davis whose press and archive is now housed at UCLan. Selected artists such as Lukas Hornby (Bradford) and Heather Mullender Ross (Preston) Tanja Engelberts (Hague), Catriona Leahy (RCA, London), Karen Davies (London) and Anna Júlía Friðbjörnsdottir (Iceland) & Małgorzata Warlikowska (Wroclaw Academy of Fine Arts, Poland) were invited to present their unique practice and how they encounter and interrogate print as part of their research. Central to this conversation was the involvement of Typ-ooo North (a collaborative print collective comprised of Lukas Hornby and Heather Mullender Ross) whose 2017 project ‘Making Visible the Archive of Gwyneth Alban Davis’ involved the cataloguing, restoration and re-printing of Gwyneth’s archive and the production of a book of essays and prints. This project was externally funded.

Heather Mullender Ross whose practice based PhD at Newcastle University examining the work of artist Kurt Schwitters, made a set of limited edition prints in the autumn term of 2021. She has recently been working collaboratively with artist Jackie Haynes, known as Artist A & Artist B, and the Artlab CPS team creating a limited edition print while also silkscreen printing directly onto a decommissioned cargo parachute. Their collaborative artwork S.O.I (Statement of Intent) is an open-ended, mobile and performative structure of accumulating art forms, which visually articulates and references their ideas. The project was initially funded by the Pioneer Award, Newcastle University, facilitating a period of development and creation in ACPS.