Katarzyna Wojdyla (Poland) is an artist with a great training, she has studied in the Art High School in Rzeszow / Poland; at the University of Porto / Portugal; at Alberta College of Art + Design, Calgary, Canada. She completed her MFA at the Academy of Art and Design in Wroclaw / Poland. Instructor of graphic design and drawing at the Institut of Graphic Art and Visual Design, Pedagogical University of Krakow / Poland.
She has stayed for two weeks at the non-toxic electro-etching workshop residence thanks to a grant of Leonardo da Vinci Traineeship, under the Lifelong Learning Programme of European Union, implemented by The Institute of Innovation Foundation, Warsaw, Poland.
Kasia is a great etcher with a lot of experience. However, she has not etched for the last three years as traditional etching processes had caused her health problems. "I'm interested in non-toxic printmaking techniques because I love printmaking, I want to take care of my health and I would like to be an active printmaker until my old age", these are her words. On the second day at the workshop she expressed her joy as she discovered that etching copper plates with the electrolytic process did not affect her health.
She received
wide information and instructions required for setting up a basic unit of
electro-etching in her own workshop. The assimilated theory of electrolysis and
the practice of several techniques, skillfully applied with a lot of generous
dedication, allowed her to etch a wide range of prints.
Pictures from the workshop
Katarzyna Speaks about her Residency
I have had the great pleasure to participate in the electro-etching course in Alfonso Crujera´s studio for two weeks in the beginning of April 2014. I went to Alfonso's studio with a strong background in traditional high-risk printmaking practise... and a bit skeptical that he would only come up with some magical tricks which I wouldn´t understand due to my weak knowledge of electricity. After the first days he proved me how wrong I had been.
Alfonso Crujera is a real e-etching master with a lot of experience in printmaking and teaching. He didn't give me readymade recipes and answers, but just helped me patiently discover my own way in e-etching step by step. He opened my eyes to new graphics experiments and shared his printmaking secrets with me. Among lots of advantages that e-etching has, the most important for me is the comfort of working. The process is clean, due to its lack of fumes and no smells. I really enjoyed to have the studio 24 hours just for myself. That gave me the great opportunity to focus on my own creative development in a silence and a flexibility of time.
It is not a coincidence that a non-toxic electro-etching residency is set up in the beautiful Gran Canaria Island. Only a place like this allows you to appreciate the value of creation itself and the beauty of the world at the same time. It brings me to the reflection of how important are one‘s choices and how sometimes life is decisive through these.
I recommend Alfonso's traineeship programme for people who are looking for new revolutionary ways in printmaking, for those who love intaglio techniques and seek for safe low-risk processes to practise during their whole lifetime and for those who would like to forget about the rest of the world and immerse themselves in a printmaking heaven.
Thank you Alfonso and your wife for a great time!The electro-etching is indeed magic :).
Katarzyna Wojdyla's etchings
More information about Katarzyna Wojdyla: www.kwojdyla.com