Basil back from the West

Basil looks surprised after an early colour woodcut rolls off the new press at Mowanjum, north of Derby in Western Australia! The technique used by Leah here is adapted from one Basil learnt from Jorge de Souza in Paris 20 years ago. Jorge uses loose pigment, brushed onto the pre-glued washi paper, while we have been mixing local ochres with rice glue first and painting them on. The gang at Mowanjum are great carvers (of Boab nuts) and this technique harked back to the way earlier artists here had incised line-work into wood and bark surfaces, before rubbing pigment into their lines to colour them.