Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Co-creating with materials : a practice-led approach to experimental printmaking

Mini Dissertation (MA (Fine Arts))--University of Pretoria, 2025.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: Grobler, Nicola
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2025
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613595138785280
access_status_str Open Access
author2 Grobler, Nicola
author_browse Grobler, Nicola
author_facet Grobler, Nicola
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2024 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Mini Dissertation (MA (Fine Arts))--University of Pretoria, 2025.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/103424
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:38:38.583Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2025
publishDateRange 2025
publishDateSort 2025
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/103424 Co-creating with materials : a practice-led approach to experimental printmaking Grobler, Nicola caitlinlr99@gmail.com Le Roux, Caitlin UCTD Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Experimental printmaking Co-creation Process New materialism Material engagement Artist-material relationship Practice-led research Mini Dissertation (MA (Fine Arts))--University of Pretoria, 2025. This practice-led study investigates the relationship between the artist and material in the context of experimental printmaking as a relational approach, reimagining creative responsibility as a shared phenomenon among all agents involved in artistic practice. Grounded in posthumanist and new materialist theories, this study explores arguments of human-material relationships as relational and participatory. This study examines the entanglement of human and material agents within creative environments, challenging anthropocentric views of the processes, materials and tools involved in artistic practice. Responding to human-centric perspectives of agency, this study refers to Karen Barad’s agential realist ontology and Lambros Malafouris’ material engagement theories to reimagine agency as an emergent property of engagement rather than an attribute of the human subject. Furthermore, the idea of artworks as the manifestation of growing relationships between the artist and material in practice is theoretically considered through Donna Haraway’s notion of ‘becoming-with’. This study posits that creative agency extends beyond the human artist, acknowledging the active roles of materials and environments in the co-creation of artworks. This study employs an explorative experimental printmaking approach that emphasises tactile engagement and responsiveness to materials, allowing for a dynamic exploration of their inherent properties and behaviours through imprints and transfers. Informed by Bolt’s participatory methodology, I view the artist, materials, tools, and environment as co-responsible elements in the creative process. By relationally engaging with materials and tools that can be found and brought into both the domestic environment and printmaking studio, I seek to highlight these material participatory agents in the form of mark-making and surface impacts, thereby revealing their roles in the processes to the viewer. The creative process and outcomes were presented in an exhibition comprised of eight series of experimental prints, bringing attention to the creative agency of an artist-tools-materials-environment collective. Following a relational approach to creative research, I explore emerging tensions of knowledge generation through practice, reflecting on the processes and outcomes through documentary images and transcriptions. This study aims to broaden the understanding of shared creative agency in art practice, specifically in printmaking as an artistic process. Subsequently, this could lead to a more responsible approach to materials in creative practice and could decentralise the human artist by encouraging relational creative practices. This study critically evaluates the role of the material bodies in art practice as equally crucial to the role of the human artist. Visual Arts MA (Fine Arts) Unrestricted Faculty of Humanities SDG-12: Responsible consumption and production 2025-07-16T14:29:11Z 2025-07-16T14:29:11Z 2025-09 2025-03 Mini Dissertation * S2025 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/103424 https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.29572202 en © 2024 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Experimental printmaking
Co-creation
Process
New materialism
Material engagement
Artist-material relationship
Practice-led research
Co-creating with materials : a practice-led approach to experimental printmaking
title Co-creating with materials : a practice-led approach to experimental printmaking
title_full Co-creating with materials : a practice-led approach to experimental printmaking
title_fullStr Co-creating with materials : a practice-led approach to experimental printmaking
title_full_unstemmed Co-creating with materials : a practice-led approach to experimental printmaking
title_short Co-creating with materials : a practice-led approach to experimental printmaking
title_sort co creating with materials a practice led approach to experimental printmaking
topic UCTD
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Experimental printmaking
Co-creation
Process
New materialism
Material engagement
Artist-material relationship
Practice-led research
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/103424
https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.29572202