On the Other Side of the Railings

Location

Country: Indonesia
City: Jakarta
Place: British Embassy

The reflection of a hilly landscape is visible against the glass of an architecturally framed window, with the shadow of railings running along the bottom of the facade. The composition presents a recurring trope in Dorothea Wight’s prints, that often use a door or window as a framing device to explore a colour palette associated with a seasonal atmosphere.
A mezzotint, this print was made by using a copper plate which has been worked over ('grounded') using a semi-circular fine-toothed tool ('rocker') so that the entire surface is roughened. The design is then created by scraping down and polishing areas of the plate. These will hold less ink and so print more lightly than the unpolished areas.
On completing her studies in 1968, Wight established an editioning and platemaking workshop for intaglio called STUDIO PRINTS, in Kentish Town. Wight and her small team were captured at work in the BBC documentary ‘At a Printmaker’s Workshop’ in 1970, part of its Craftsmen series. At the forefront of printmaking in Britain, Wight printed works for artists such as William Turnbull, Celia Paul, Lucian Freud, Tess Jaray, Kim Lim, and Paula Rego.

Born in Devon, Dorothea Wight studied fine art at Dartington College of Art (1963–64). She then moved to London to study painting at the Slade School of Fine Art (1964–68). Her first solo show was held at Edinburgh Festival King’s Theatre in 1969. On completing her studies she established STUDIO PRINTS, in Kentish Town. After moving premises, a gallery space was added to the workshop in 1972. Wight ran the workshop collaboratively with Marc Balakjiran from 1974 (her husband from 1977) to 2011. As a visiting lecturer, Wight established the etching department at the Holmes Rd. part of Camden Institute in London. She also taught printmaking in various art schools including The Royal College of Art, Cambridge School of Art, and Brighton School of Art. Her work has been exhibited extensively in the UK and Europe, and is included in the collections of the British Council, Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, University of British Columbia, and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

Places

Subjects

landscape C20th, railing, window

Materials & Techniques

mezzotint

Artist

Dorothea Wight (1944 - 2013)

Title

On the Other Side of the Railings

Edition

19/50

Date

Medium

Mezzotint

Acquisition

Purchased from Thumb Gallery, February 1977

Inscription

below image: 19/50 / 'On the other side of the railings' / Dorothea Wight

GAC number

13011