New Grounds Print Workshop & Gallery: The Cutting Edge Exhibition and Wayne Chinander Relief Demo

May has just begun and we're busy with new work here at New Grounds Print Workshop and Gallery.

New pieces by our relief printers spark conversations!

Our current exhibition, The Cutting Edge - Relief and Mixed Media Prints, features a rich array of relief and mixed media prints by Wayne Chinander, Manuel Lau and Tanya Landin.

Their distinctly different approaches to this centuries-old medium offer an exciting experience for art lovers!

Wayne Chinander poses in front of his reduction prints.


Viewers enjoying Wayne Chinander's new relief prints.

Wayne Chinander’s multi-plate relief prints capture the fleeting moment of a place in time. Relief printing enables him to capture the sharp juxtaposition of light and shadow. With relief prints the non-image elements are carved away so that the remaining surface area prints the positive image. Chinander’s first relief prints were single plate, black and white images. As he became more interested in color and landscapes in particular, he explored working with multiple plates which were inked in separate colors and then layered to build up the image. The biggest challenge with this approach is registration which turned out to be a much steeper learning curve than Chinander anticipated. One of New Grounds former interns, Manuel Lau, was instrumental in helping Chinander get his printing problems worked out.

Wayne Chinander giving his relief printing demo to the crowd!

Wayne answers questions about relief printing.

During the show's opening reception, Wayne Chinander gave the crowd a relief printing demo. He showed some of his relief printing techniques, including inking, registration, multi-plate and reduction processes.

You can view our two-part video of Wayne in action on our YouTube channel!

Tanya Landin poses in front of her new series.

Tanya Landin has been New Grounds’ gallery assistant for six years and counting. Freshly graduated with her BFA, and with some technical help by Manuel Lau - the same intern who assisted Wayne Chinander - she finally completed this body of work which was started a little while ago. Originally, these images were about the continuance of life, but they transpired to become an metaphor for her life, recent life changes and all the emotions that accompany it. Her imagery incorporates the female form, the moon, feathers, and trees. This body of work evokes a sense of peace within the multitude of layers. Combining and expanding on printmaking techniques such as relief, monotype, and gravure opened up Landin’s art to a whole new level.


Tanya Landin's work in the gallery.

Viewers enjoying Tanya's rich surfaces

Stone relief prints by Manuel Lau.

Mauel Lau, born in Peru to Chinese parents and now a Canadian resident, was such a person. A traveler of the world, Lau pursues a full-time artist career through grants, residencies and internships. He spend a three month internship at New Grounds “to learn and to share” and so he did! In addition to his intern duties he created about 30 editions of carved soapstone relief prints, and he was instrumental in helping Chinander and Landin in creating the work for this exhibition. Lau’s whimsical and figurative images are as much a traveler’s log as they are an expression of his gentle, astute and humorous spirit.