It features her latest series of rapid life drawings – this is a method of fast drawing in public spaces and completed in the time it takes for a person to pass by, which hones focus, perceptual and conceptual ability.
Jessica Staple doing Monolitho printmaking
“Drawing is the foundation of many forms of printmaking,” says Staple who has developed an all-South African, low-cost, non-toxic printmaking technique using everyday household items that she calls Monolitho.
If you see her walking down the supermarket aisles putting Maizena, Sunlight soap and Pepsi into her trolley, plus candles and dust cloths, these are not for domestic use but for Monolitho.
It’s revolutionary in its process and it democratises printmaking because makes it affordable for all students and artists, whereas traditional print-making is costly and several of the ingredients and materials are not available in South Africa.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic I had to look for alternative artistic processes that could be practised from home,” she says. “In 2021, I started developing my own planographic (flat surface) printmaking technique drawing on aspects of techniques from the 18th to 21st centuries.
“It took me two years to problem-solve and develop Monolitho, which required substituting traditional ingredients and materials with those which are readily available in South African grocery and craft stores, and changing the way the plate is processed to accommodate these substitutions,” Staple explains.
A small amount of Maizena flour and Pepsi cooldrink replaces gum Arabic; regular yellow dust cloths replace lithographic sponges; relief ink or oil paint replace lithographic ink that is mostly only available in Europe and the USA; tissue paper replaces gampi paper; and she has developed her own crayon recipe using candle wax, Holsum vegetable fat, Sunlight soap and charcoal powder.
“During the two years of experimentation there was a lot of trial and error, and there was also a lot of drawing. Much like stone lithography, you have to draw with a greasy drawing tool on the plate and you cannot erase the drawing once it’s down,” she explains.
“Therefore, I had to draw regularly and intensively. As part of this, I did a lot of rapid drawings of students and colleagues while they were going about their business at this time, and this constant activity of drawing became as exciting for me as the Monolitho technique.”
To develop Monolitho, she did extensive research on stone lithography, the original 18th century technique, and its various planographic descendants (offset lithography, waterless lithography, polyester plate lithography, kitchen litho, poor man’s litho and Lemon-Etch Litho.
Stone lithography, the original planographic printmaking medium was invented in 1796 by Alois Senefelder, a German playwright, who sought a cheaper print method to reproduce his plays.
Reproductions in Europe and America, as well as fine art prints, were created using stone lithography until the latter part of the 19th century after which, in commercial spheres at least, stone lithography gave way to the faster offset lithographic printing process.
“The printing of newspapers globally today is still based on the same planographic principles discovered by Senefelder, but the original stone lithographic process is now only practised in the realm of fine art,” says Staple.
“My department at the University is privileged to have stone lithographic printing facilities.”
To find a practicable, affordable version for students and graduates, Staple first explored the Lemon-Etch Litho technique by Muskat Studios in the USA that had developed a non-toxic, low-cost way of creating planographic prints at home, based on the Kitchen Litho technique invented by French artist and educator Émilie Aizier in 2011.
“After some trial and error with these techniques, I found both were not accessible in the South African context, mainly due to non-availability of certain materials like gum arabic powder, specialised lithographic ink, lithographic crayons, lithographic sponges and special printmaking papers.
"This started me on the long, fulfilling and often highly frustrating journey to come up with a planographic printmaking technique suited to our context in South Africa,” Staple explains.
In April 2023, Staple’s first solo exhibition of her research into Monolitho, including rapid life drawings, experiments and Monolitho prints, was hosted at the Bird Street Gallery, Nelson Mandela University.
The exhibition, titled On the drawing board, comprised 80 original prints, drawings and plates, as well as a video piece which showcased the Monolitho technique.
“The whole process of developing Monolitho has inspired my drawing process, which takes time and effort, including rapid life drawing,” says Staple. The practice of rapid life drawing takes centre stage in her latest solo exhibition Drawing from Life.
In addition to the exhibition, she gave a public lecture on the value of drawing, and held a drawing class for members of the public at no charge, which 40 people attended. During the course of 2025 she will continue to hold drawing classes for teenagers and adults.
Staple also lectures full-time and teaches Monolitho printmaking to her students at Nelson Mandela University and says “I keep making more discoveries as I streamline the process.”
Website: www.jessicastaple.com