By Maria Allen
Photography by Derrick Zellmann
Situated in a sunlit storefront on Court Street, Inky Hands Print Studio and Gallery is dedicated to creating a sense of community around the art of silk screen printing. Owner Katharine LiBretto is a skilled artist whose works are regularly exhibited in London, Hong Kong and the USA and are collected worldwide. She first established her business while living in Dallas, but expanded the concept when she relocated to Plymouth in 2018.
“I wanted to be in a historic town with small businesses, to be on the water, and for the town to have a vibrant artist community. Plymouth checked all of those boxes,” says LiBretto. Oftentimes, the art LiBretto creates is inspired by the beauty of nature and a sense of solitude. Such was the case with her starry night series. “I became obsessed with the night sky on my first solo road trip, looking for inspiration in America’s national parks, discovering the universe on show at night. I had never experienced such a sight.”
LiBretto aims to promote a greater understanding and appreciation for printmaking as a creative process and encourages local photographers, painters and other visual artists to explore their work through silk screen printing. The studio provides a collaborative approach to producing limited-edition prints with emerging and established artists, asnd offers the community a place to learn through workshops.
Inky Hands will be hosting a special exhibition this summer, in recognition of the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower crossing. Developed in conjunction with Red Hot Press in Southampton, United Kingdom, “Mayflower 400” is a cross-cultural exhibition of contemporary printmaking.
Works created for the “Mayflower 400” exhibition will travel to Southampton, United Kingdom this summer and will later be traveling to Plymouth, Massachusetts to be shown at Inky Hands Gallery in September.
LiBretto selected 20 artists from different artistic backgrounds—painters, photographers, graphic designers, poets, illustrators and fellow printmakers—to participate in the project. Each artist created a print inspired by the concepts of journey, spiritual freedom, arrival, and the sea. The resulting prints showcase a variety of technical skills as well as the versatility of the screen printing process, examining the journey, settlement and cultural impact of the Mayflower crossing in contemporary art.
Exhibition Dates: August 28th, 2020-September 27th, 2020. For more information visit: inkyhandsprintstudio.com.
