Skye Phillips works primarily with intaglio printmaking and photography, producing prints influenced by the coastal environment – looking at it’s crossover between the natural and unnatural. The subjects are often in overlooked spaces yet play a significant role within our daily lives such as places of transience or edge-lands of the rural. The works reflect on the notion, perception and consciousness within space, enviroment and ‘non-place’. Skye uses alternate methods of presenting the prints whether it be integrating sculpture into her practice through binding prints or casting woodblock carvings into concrete. She uses traditional intaglio printmaking techniques, specialising her interest in etching and aquatint but she has also worked with producing her own natural pigment for etching ink derived from plants promoting non-toxic printmaking processes.
Skye graduated from the University of Brighton Printmaking Course in 2016.

Instagram: @skyephillips__

After graduating I worked for an art gallery for a year that specialised in antique maps and prints (mainly engravings and lithographs) and bespoke framing. I had previously worked at part time as an assistant during university (mainly during the holidays). Once graduating, eventually becoming manager of the Dorking gallery. (They had two shops, one in Fulham, London and one in Dorking, Surrey). Having the knowledge of printmaking and learning history of art through my studies at Brighton, it gave me a massive advantage and confidence in selling artwork and creating interesting conversation with customers about printmaking processes.

Resilience

After a year of saving up after university, I moved to Amsterdam, Holland, where I worked as an artist in residence for 3 months at the AGALAB in West Amsterdam. A fantastic place thats worth visiting if you’re ever in Amsterdam. It’s a working studio for printmakers across all disciplines that has been an organisation for 60 years. The building in which the studio is based is a converted boys school, the old school rooms are now converted into a load of artist studios whom are regularly using the facilities, they are successful artists and generally great to be working around! Amsterdam is generally a stimulating and motivating place to be in as an artist! The Dutch are great business women and men which really drives a positive and supportive community around the art world. I also took a course here in learning how to make your own pigment sourced from natural materials mostly grown and gathered in Holland over the seasons. Mainly using tropical indigo plant myself for the interesting silvery blue outcome.

Edgelands (Blauw) 

I lived there for a year, I became part of a collective (Young Blood Initiative), put my work through a very interesting action with Yami-Ichi Project, exhibited multiple times through AGA, Bouw, YBI, Created a regular printing and life drawing class after falling in love with the side course in the second year at Brighton.

I’m currently in England to help my family, I’m freelancing for now and saving up for the next adventure to a printmaking and paper making residency in Japan.