Maria Quintin is a Bristol based artist and print-maker. Having a keen interest in nature, she works to learn more about the complexity of its design and to share her findings through her art. She uses simple natural forms as a way to investigate larger questions of identity, spirituality and what it means to be human. Using shape, form and colour, she has been pushing materials and scale to experiment and contrast these themes, turning micro into macro as she invites the viewer to immerse themselves into a microscopic world.
More recently, she has taken a side-step into a new research project called ‘This is a print’ ‘This is not a print’. This body of work aims to once and for all define what a print is with no grey areas. These words have been systematically printed using each process defined as a ‘print method’, from pushing ink through a screen to drawing a monoprint, producing the words ‘This is a print’ or ‘This is not a print’ based off of whether or not the method fits the following definition:
‘A print is the process of transferring an image from one surface to another’.
This process has raised many questions. For example: if you reverse an image, like in intaglio printing, is it still the same image? If not, then most prints are not prints. If this is the case, then can a symmetrical image be a print when a non-symmetrical image is not, even if it uses the same method? The same process with the same plate can be reversed or not using different presses – as with lithography. Does this affect whether it is a print or not?
If we cannot define a ‘fine art’ or traditional print, where is the hope of defining the difference between these and digital print.
Scholar Exhibition
F-Block Gallery, Bristol
15th – 26th July 2019
Pop-up Gallery
The Galleries, 25 Union Gallery, Bristol
20th August – 16th September 2018
ACE Project 2018
The Island, Nelson Street, Bristol
4th – 10th June 2018
Visualising 2030
CREATE Centre, Smeaton Road, Bristol
3rd – 8th May 2018
Analysis of ‘X’
Centerspace Gallery, 6 Leonard Lane, Bristol
19th – 23rd January 2018
Scientific Discovery
Clifton Workshop,
Hotwells Roundabout,
Bristol
7th July – 27th August
Exhibit A
123 Space, Stokes Croft, Bristol
11th March 2017
Memory Of Space – Space Of Memory Exhibition
Centerspace Gallery, 6 Leonard Lane, Bristol
25th – 30th November 2016
Open House Event
48 Upper Belgrave road, Clifton, Bristol
3rd September 2016
Free Thinking and Blank Canvas Exhibition
Shop 13, Old Truman Brewery, London
8th July – 11th July 2016
Melancholia Exhibition
Christmas Steps, Bristol
19th May – 30th May 2016
Won a Special Mention Prize for charcoal drawing ‘Escape’
This year, my print studio is finally being sold :(
This unique space is a safe place for me to continue my research into alternate materials – creating accessible alternative materials for schools and charities in this difficult climate. It’s also the current (somewhat hidden) home of the Bristol Print Museum. I use this space for my work with local museums and arts groups (such as Mshed and the Müller Museum, among others) and it gives me the space to be able to work on these projects safely. Without this space, the museum project will be back years as I will be halted indefinitely.
I have been given the incredible chance to buy it first for a final chance to not only save my workspace, but also prevent this incredible building from being redeveloped into modern student housing. I need to raise a total of £130k to buy the space, but £65 must be raised in the next 5 months or else it will go to market (and be sold to a developer) So the main aim is to raise that first 65k. I know times are tough, especially with all the uncertainty going on at the moment, so please still support this project by booking a workshop, purchasing something in my shop, donating, or simply sharing with friends and family.
Find out more about the fundraiser here
Find out more about the Bristol Print Museum at www.bristolprintmuseum.org or on Instagram @bristol_print_museum_project
Find out more about my work by exploring this website, or check out my Instagram @quintsprints
I know this is a wild Hail Mary and a lot to ask. But I truly believe that – with the love and support of my local community – this unique space can be saved from redevelopment, and my research and the work of the Print Museum can continue.
Thank you all x
