Project: Pressed Reflections
A look inside the process, the people, and the quiet moments that shaped this series.
Pressed Reflections began as an experiment — a simple desire to carve something by hand and let the result be whatever it wanted to be. I didn’t plan the faces, the expressions, or the themes. They surfaced on their own, each one arriving through the pressure of the pen on the foam board and the weight of the ink when it transferred.
Relief printing is brutally honest. Foam board, pen, black ink, paper — and no ability to undo a single mark. Every slip of the pen, every uneven press, every place where the ink catches or breaks is preserved. Nothing can be corrected once it’s carved or marked. It reveals exactly what you put into it.
What emerged over time were nine distinct characters — impressions of family, memory, and the selves we carry. Deep lines, soft curves, wide-eyed figures, fragmented faces. Some felt like reflections of me, some like echoes of people I’ve known, and others like imagined characters rising from somewhere quieter.
In a tenth work, The Gathering, I brought several of these figures into one image — a convergence of all the voices that surfaced along the way. I wanted it to feel like a community of oddballs meeting together in a shared place.
Two of the pieces became “special editions.” On walks, I often find myself picking up rocks, leaves, and small branches — drawn to their colour, texture, or shape. I wondered if I could bring that feeling into the prints, the depth and dimension of the natural bits I collected. So I scanned them into the compositions, letting nature shape the print the way memory shapes emotion. That small layer rooted the pieces in place and time. I was very happy with the outcome, and I hope you are too.
What I love most about this series is how it contrasts with my usual work — and yet, like my paintings, remains completely unpolished. The softness in their imperfections sits beside the boldness of their stark contrasts. They feel like emotional snapshots carved in real time, each one holding a different part of the story.
This is the first time I’ve ever offered digital versions of my artwork — and it may be the only time. Relief prints translate beautifully into digital form; the textures stay true, and the honesty of the line is preserved. Making them available this way feels right: immediate, accessible, and faithful to how they were created.
If you’d like to explore the full collection, each print is listed individually in my shop as a digital file. And if you ever want framing or printing guidance, I’m always happy to help.
If one of these pieces speaks to you, you can explore each print individually in my shop. Each piece holds its own title — an identity.
