Screen printing is not just a tool, but is in fact a playground that can generate more possibilities than you would ever expect with just some extra exploration and creativity.

I do not want to define myself strictly as a maker, but making is truly my biggest passion. Since being introduced to screen printing in my third semester at Boston University I became obsessed with it and cannot seem to turn my head away from this exciting and freeing form of printing. To me, the rigid yet flexible techniques of screen printing allows for organic yet controlled outcomes that I am fascinated with. Using this as inspiration, I have created prints, posters, and books as well as explored my own technique of this process. This technique included the layering of multiple inks to create embossed like textures, similar to 3D printing. Using screen printing as a mode of making, I hope to bring this process to everyday objects to showcase the versatility of screen printing.

Looking back to the screen-printing history, it is dated back to China, 1,000 years ago, which is where I am from. It was not until the 1910s that printers started experimenting with photo-reactive chemicals that gave screen printing more creative possibilities and are still used today. With the contribution of three printers, Roy Beck, Charles Peter, and Edward Owens, and with the help of many legendary artists, including Andy Warhol, screen printing became more of an art form and less of an industrial product.

Though it might be risky to take screen printing as a thesis subject, I am determined to explore this process and to prove that it is not just a tool for mass production, but that it can have the sense of human touch to it. I am very enthusiastic about the endless possibilities screen printing can have and my thesis show is my shot to bring these options to life. I will be focusing on this technique and to explore the unexpected moments that can arise from bringing screen printing out of its traditional setting and into the everyday experience.