REMNANTS FROM THE LONDON THAMES: Collecting and Printmaking with Amy-Leigh Bird

As part of Create Day – a new interactive platform showcasing twenty-four hours of non-stop human ingenuity, imagination, diversity and skills from around the globe – London-based sculpture artist Emma Witter and curator and filmmaker Daen Palma Huse have chosen to highlight Amy-Leigh Bird, a fellow young maker who is inspired by bones, teeth and other curious and overlooked artefacts. The film presented highlights Amy-Leigh's process of collecting objects from the River Thames, London, UK, and shows her producing a print using a photopolymer plate. The plate has been prepared using a light-activated resin, transforming a photographic image of a bone onto the plate, which provides the base for the printing process on an etching press.

A short version of this film was shortlisted and selected by Create Day and the London Crafts Council, and premiered on 10.10.2020 on createday.org – the full version featured on The Protagonist Magazine is 23 minutes in length and shows the printing process in almost real-time. Print is highlighted as a ritualistic creative process, following through several steps before arriving at the final outcome.