Antoinette Momtahan has always gravitated to a print studio as if by an invisible pull. This connection began whilst on her Foundation course at Nottingham Trent University, continued during her studies at Manchester Met University, and remains as strong as ever today. Antoinette is at home in a print studio. The metals, the smells, the presses, the inks and the acid baths: all creating possibilities. Artichoke Print Studio is where she begins her day and feels a sense of belonging and stillness.
Antoinette has a long generational history of migration, on her mother’s side from Siberia into Europe and then the UK, and on her father’s side from Ireland. Her work is in many ways a product of this history as it explores the tensions and freedoms that cross these barriers, both physically and psychologically. Whilst in her early work this took the form of physical walls through a more representational approach, she has now found a new freedom in using line and geometric forms. This is developed through the medium of etching, photo-etching and relief print, as seen in her work Beyond Borders.
She also explores this idea of crossing boundaries by the image coming off the embossing on the etching plate as can be seen by Interrupted Circle, or in the image itself which can be seen in Outside the Line.
Antoinette is interested in dialogue and meeting points. A favourite poem of hers is Rumi’s poem: “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there”. This process of thought is seen in works such as Discourse and Making Connections.
Continually looking for quiet places Antoinette is exploring through a long term project, a series of prints to help discover them. Prelude and First Movement are two of this series.
As well as the familiar surroundings of Artichoke Print Studio, Antoinette enjoys writing poetry and belongs to a photography collective. Her interests are wide and include: music, poetry, cosmology, dance, trees, the city, and calligraphy. All of which play their part in informing Antoinette’s work.