Michael Woolworth

The joy of artistic collaboration

• Michael came to printmaking unexpectedly
• He is passionate about collaborating with artists
• All his work is done by hand, on 19th century machines.

Michael Woolworth arrived in Paris at the age of 19 and went in search of a summer job. He found one with a lithographer needing an extra pair of hands and began an apprenticeship that would change his life. “The context of the job was so beautiful; what could be better? The intimacy between artist and print is extremely fulfilling. I’ve never stopped working in this,” he says. He opened his own workshop in 1985 and was recognised as a master artisan in France in 2011. Today, Michael is both publisher and printer, with a studio that specialises in lithography as well as woodcuts, linocuts, monotypes, etchings and multiples.

Interview

©All rights reserved

©All rights reserved

What do you love most about your job?

The collaboration is what I love. I’ve acquired enough technique to carry any project. What keeps you going is collaborating with different artists. Every season brings new ideas.

How would you describe what you do?

It’s about making an image and finding a vision with the artist. Some projects are complex and technical, some are simple. I am constantly adapting. The workshop is also an exhibition space, which I curate and organise. And we host poetry readings, too.

How does technology affect your work?

Handmade' is our story. This is what interests me. We do use digital supports, but the point of the workshop is that everything is done on 19th century French presses. There’s no electricity. You cannot get the same results with digital versus a hand-inked print.

Can you tell us about one of your more unique pieces?

It might have to be the 'rug' project with José Maria Sicilia that we did for the Louvre. A lithograph project measuring 9m x 3m. This was one of our more unusual and impressive projects and illustrates what can be achieved in a place like this.

Michael Woolworth is a master artisan: he began his career in 1979 and he started teaching in 1985

Works

©Michael Woolworth

©Michael Woolworth

©Michael Woolworth

©Jean-Michel Othoniel

©Michael Woolworth

Where