Minchaya Chayosumrit’s seemingly simple screenprints inspire a long meditative look. Complex works such as Moiré Chart, Opacity, Medium & Water and Journey of K50 Grey – a 48-colour screenprint that required 48 passes of the squeegee across the screen – show how the Thai graphic designer, artist and screenprinter pushes the boundaries of her chosen discipline to the limit.
Chayosumrit trained at Silpakorn University in Bangkok (2002-05) before continuing her studies in Communication Design at London’s Central Saint Martins (2008- 10), where her interest in printmaking blossomed. In 2013 she launched The Archivist – a small screenprinting studio based in Bangkok specialising in hand-pulled prints using water-based inks – together with printer and creative director Woon Kanaporn Phasuk. The pair produces limited edition prints that are exhibited in galleries around Thailand such as The Jam Factory Gallery, Kalwit Studio & Gallery and Goose Life Space. They also conduct workshops and collaborate with other creative practitioners to make prints and zines, among other printed materials. Prints are often available in limited editions in The Archivist’s online shop.
The physicality of the practice can be seen on The Archivist’s Instagram page; Chayosumrit is a meticulous and tidy printer who values exposing the hidden printing process. ‘I often talk about the printing process through simple visuals, abstract forms, geometric elements or common objects,’ says Chayosumrit. ‘All of my screenprint works are describing the same things – the methods and details in each component of screenprinting: the screen angles, screen mesh, ink opacity, errors and distortion of manual printing.’ This desire infuses every aspect of her work, down to the descriptions given to the prints for sale in her online shop. Here she details the production process and paper selection. Works such as Trapping Chart – described as ‘This chart is for screenprint lovers and can be used to analyse an existing collection of screenprints’ – is both a beautiful printed object and a tool for designers. Chayosumrit explains that it is through the exposure of the production process that her work is able to ‘tell stories’.
While an untrained eye may see perfection in her outcomes, she insists that to the printer’s eye, there are inevitable flaws in her work. ‘It’s kind of painful if you’re addicted to achieving this never-ending “better,” she says, ‘because there has never been a “perfection” in things created by hand.’ With this obsession, there is also a bigger goal, that is to inspire a greater respect and appreciation for print and printmaking in Thailand and beyond. Chayosumrit says, ‘Once people have a better understanding of the printing process, they are more appreciative of the crafted prints and happier to support printmakers or independent printing studios.’