Monika Petersen

Graphic designer and illustrator, Monika Petersen has chosen an old and traditional craft as her form of artistic expression. Monika creates modern artworks using the linocut method - a technique that requires patience and precision.
Over the last few years, Monika Petersen’s favorite motifs have been the beautiful shapes and structures found in nature. With meticulous precision, which characterizes the hundreds of cuts that are required to complete each linoleum sheet, Monika makes the paper version of an apple, an artichoke or a leaf look almost three-dimensional.

“A lemon, for example, has a wonderful sculptural form, as do the delicate patterns you find on a leaf. I try to place my cuts in a way that when they are transferred onto paper they float in a light and elegant way,” Monika explains.

Monika Petersen has worked with the graphic linocut technique for many years. It is a labor and time intensive process. After sketching on a linoleum sheet, Monika makes small, detailed cuts in the surface of the linoleum. Color is then applied to the linoleum sheet with a rubber roller (called a brayer), after which it is hand printed on a graphic printing press.
Monika mans the heavy printing press in her printing workshop in Nyhavn. It is the combination of craftsmanship and the build up to the moment when the cloth is removed from the press and the first print is revealed that fascinates Monika.
“It is a bit like when a ceramic artist opens the kiln door – you never quite know what the outcome will be.”
The technique requires time and because each work is printed individually by hand, not one print is identical. This means that the intensity of colour varies from print to print and each of Monika Petersen’s works are unique. In addition, each linoleum sheet has a limited lifespan due to the wear and tear it endures during the printing process. This affects the number of prints that can be produced. Each linoleum sheet can be printed up to 600 times, but some are discarded if they do not live up to Monika’s perfectionist eye. Some prints are only printed in a limited edition of 200 versions per linoleum sheet.
Welcome to a world where time, endurance and precision come together to produce prints that exude a graphic calm and peaceful intensity that remind us that some of the most beautiful patterns in the world come from nature.

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