ToP III was conceived as a project that would bring together new works from over 80 artists from 16 printmaking groups in 9 countries. The exhibition was accepted for presentation at the Impact II International Printmaking Conference in Hong Kong (scheduled for 2020, but postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic), but many of our artists were at the time unable to access their making-facilities in the face of restrictions and lockdowns. Deadlines for the delivery of editioned Thinking of Place III prints were extended so participation in the Hong Kong conference was not possible. Remarkably, however, almost all of the original groups of artist participants were able to complete and post their prints and the project came to fruition. Our proposal to participate in Impact 12 as a group exhibition was accepted for presentation in Bristol, UK, September 2022.
With the extended time frame and in the midst of a pandemic, some of the contributing artists adapted their conceptual responses to the notion of identification with place; their altered perceptions of space, horizons and thoughts about our ‘place’ in the world are reflected in their imagery. Other artists maintained their original focus on stories that attach to very specific localities, contemplating on the deep and recent histories of particular places. A rich array of print media is represented, as one would anticipate, from 85 artists working in disparate parts of the globe. Each artist is attached to a printmaking group with a coordinator who volunteered to help bring the works together, and an enriching aspect of the project is the strengthening of connections between these collaborating groups.
