Liorah’s work is deeply rooted in the practice of drawing, she builds puppets as the models for her work and draws extensively from life, especially on the London Underground. Liorah’s puppets are about people and ideas, and elevating the experiences of Jewish women. Through making, arranging and drawing the puppets, Liorah performs interpretations of their stories. Liorah’s work examines both the potential and limitations of print. The editioning process of printmaking leaves no original template, save for the plate or stone, on which the image is eventually washed away or destroyed. This is reminiscent of the idea of ‘Jewishness’ or ‘the Jewish Woman’; an older generation leaving this world, only to leave an edition of ideas.  Liorah graduated from the University of Brighton in Fine Art Printmaking in 2016.

Website: tchiprout.com
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My time at Brighton was the least productive for me as an artist, though in hindsight I feel like I needed to feel inadequate and listless in order to develop the relentless commitment and work ethic I have now. It was also where I began making the models I draw from, which has become the cornerstone of my practice.
I came back to London and moved in to my friend’s grandma’s house, and got a job in the bookshop in the V&A, and then in a printmakers gallery and framers in Ealing. At the same time I was accepted for the two day a week traineeship at London Print Studio. The master printer there, Darren van der Merwe, showed me how to lay an aquatint properly, and I began building a body of etchings. Darren’s incredible skill and attention to detail inspired me deeply – I feel like I will always carry a Darren in my pocket, pushing me to be a better printer. I also became good friends with the director, John Phillips, who continues to support and inspire me. I recently went with him to Sheffield to work on a collaboration.

The room I was living in became my studio, and where I built more puppets to work from. I returned to the practice of drawing every day from life on the tube as well as going to life drawing, and making etchings at London Print Studio in between preparing screens and dishing out materials, and other studio tasks. When I wasn’t, I was at work helping customers choose frames, often for prints. Before I realised it, I had built the momentum in my work, which sustains me still and probably will for the rest of my life.

Not just in terms of print but in drawing, too, this was a formative time for me. John asked me if I’d like to attend his ‘Returning to Drawing’ course, and although I was apparently ‘the most resistant student ever’ it pushed me to radically rethink drawing. Drawing with tone instead of line, drawing as a thinking process. I began working for the portait painter Nick Bashall as a life model. Listening to him, and his assistant Bea teach drawing and painting was transformative, too. I’ve never had any formal training in drawing, and in many ways I’ve had to unlearn my own mistakes – think a self taught pianist having their fingers in the wrong position and putting them right. I love learning and pushing my drawing and hope I’ll always be pushing.
At London Print Studio, Darren and John helped me prepare my portfolio to apply for Greenwich Printmakers, Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, and my MA at Camberwell, which I was accepted for. I started my MA in Fine Art Printmaking in 2018 and will graduate in 2020. Dr Johanna Love is the head of the MA at Camberwell, and when I was at Brighton she was (and remains) head of the third year, so it’s great to have the support of an artist and academic who knows me and my work so well. Sometimes you need someone who is willing to be critical because they know you value growth over people being nice to you.

At the beginning of this year I began working for Simon Lawson at Huguenot Editions, at Worton Hall Studios. I met Simon at a private view and introduced myself, but I have Brian Hodgson, the phenomenal Etching Tech at Camberwell, to thank for recommending me.  While I’ve been there I’ve assisted on his etching projects with artists such as Peter Blake, Paul Noble and Raqib Shaw. We recently completed a large woodblock project for Christian Marclay. I love working in Editioning, I find it so exciting. I love Simons view of the printer – as an artist and an enabler of artists. He is currently training me to the point where he can hand me a plate, a B.A.T print and ink specifications and I can print it independently for him, allowing him more time to work with the artists on projects. It is a dream job for me and I am so proud to work at Huguenot Editions.

This year has been a good year for me in my own work too. I had my double self portrait ‘Regardless, move out the Way Piddlers!’ shortlisted for the Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize, and two works selected for the National Original Print Exhibition with the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers. I’ve had three selected for Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, and I’m currently working on a print for them for Woolwich Contemporary Editions. I’ve been selling my work through Greenwich Printmakers regularly. I’ve also been lucky enough to have a studio space until January where I am developing my paintings, which you can visit during the Lambeth Open Studios on 5th and 6th October. I also became a keyholder at Artichoke Print Workshop, which has a particular resonance for me as it was the first place I ever made a print back in 2012.

I do feel a bit like being an artist can leave you trapped in a state of perpetual worry, feeling like a fraud, feeling like you made bad decisions etc etc. And it seems to get worse the better it’s going. But I try and ignore this and just focus on the work – thats the point of it all, right? And as long as the work satisfies me, everything will be alright.