Test copy of JYLIAN GUSTLIN

When artist Jylian Gustlin connected with Roland dela Cuesta, alta’s Head of Art Production, they already had one thing in common: a background in technology and art. With her studies in math and computer science continuing to inform her art practice, Gustlin was intrigued by the ability of the Elegraph™ textured print process to enable her ‘people’ to emerge from the surface of a work. Roland says: “Jylian is a true collaborator. She threw her faith into the technology.”

True to her body of work, Gustlin created three high-relief, colourful backdrops on canvas, the Elegraph™ print plates, layering a variety of materials to create a dynamic environment for her abstracted figures. The alta printmaking team scanned each canvas, meticulously capturing the artist’s surface relief and vibrant colours with an ultra-high resolution colour laser scanner. Gustlin then created five free-form fabric figures using quilting techniques she employs in her textile art. The alta team scanned the figures, digitally capturing the intricate texture and pattern of each fabric and the threads of the stitching.

With the same collaborative process as a traditional print studio, Gustlin worked with the alta printmaking team who digitally sculpted the quilted figures to provide musculature and human form, overlaying and having them emerge from the painted surface. This digital creativity was in no way foreign to Gustlin as she uses both two-dimensional computer design and three-dimensional computer modeling programs to sketch the character and movement of her people.

This compelling series of original Elegraph™ prints is a natural extension of Gustlin’s creative practice; a literal collage of modern print technology and two distinct physical mediums forging the colourful, complex layered textures for which she is so well known.