Printmaking using an Orange Juice Carton as a Matrix

Abstract

Life sometimes surprises us – adversity creating opportunity. I’m a metal sculptor and printmaker who, after a painful operation on my hip, realized that an orange juice carton could provide an interesting alternative matrix to metal plates. Whilst recovering from that surgery I worked, in diverse ways, to transform this piece of packaging into a printing matrix. In this apprenticeship I kneaded, embroidered, sewed, marked the surface with textured tips, and added textures made from twigs and leaves. I also cut the packaging to create embossing and different contours. Afterwards, I inked that matrix with various colours and extracted the prints. The article shows the interesting results. Through this exploration, I discovered a material that can be used as a cheap, flexible, innovative, creative and environmentally friendly printing matrix, because it reuses a carton that would otherwise prematurely return to nature.