Silkscreen | Stars of the screen

Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair is proud to present Silkscreen | Stars of the Screen, a curated online exhibition dedicated to the dynamic process of screenprint.

Selected through our Open Call, these works reveal the power of screenprinting to push boundaries—embracing both precision and spontaneity. From crisp graphic forms to layered colour fields, and hand-drawn stencils to experimental techniques, each piece showcases the versatility and vibrancy of this iconic medium.

This exhibition was curated by Qihan (Hannah) Fu who is about to complete her MA in contemporary Art at Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Hannah has joined Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair on a two-month professional accredited work placement as part of her studies, that aligns with her own interests and expertise. 

Screen printing is a sacred discipline, an act of devotion as much as craft. The ink, thick and unyielding as wet clay, is pushed through the mesh with a slow, deliberate drag, a motion that feels less like work and more like ritual. But before this moment, there is the relentless of steps: sketching the design, washing the screen, drying it, mixing the emulsion, coating it, exposing it, drying again, aligning the film, printing, washing, drying—and then repeating it all, colour after colour, layer upon layer. 

Yet this is the alchemy. The screen resists at first, then yields all at once, releasing the colour in a smooth, viscous flood that clings to the fabric beneath, settling into its fibres with a permanence that feels almost fated. There is something intimate in the act, the way the design emerges not instantly but gradually, as though being coaxed from some hidden depth. And when it’s done, what was once a flat, distant image, becomes something you can feel beneath your fingertips, something with weight and texture, ridges and imperfections. It is no longer just a picture. It is an object, warm with the presence of the hand that made it, a tangible whisper of time, labor, and a quiet stubbornness of artists hands and the beauty they insist on leaving behind..