My preferred method of printmaking is the monotype technique. As a painter in predominantly oils, I work directly from black and white source material slipped under a clear polycarbonate plate. I apply colour and strokes instinctively. Where an oil painting could take anytime from one to six months to complete – a monotype is a direct and instant way of producing a single image, within a limited timeframe. If your image is too diluted or the paint oxidizes too rapidly it influences the clarity or impact of your image – which could be an advantage or sabotage, depending on the outcome.

This is the magic of printmaking, it allows for ‘happy accidents’ and it is a condensed, instinctive way of working within a collaborative environment. It is a marriage of skill, alchemy, chance and tradition. The images I selected for my collaboration with Georgina at South Atlantic Press are what I refer to as my ‘orphans’. Some are study references for sculptural works (Michelangelo's Pietà), some are nocturnal photographs of my garden, some are intimate vintage snapshots – they are ‘sketches’ in a way which draw from various projects and interests.

Sanell Aggenbach’s work deals primarily with the intersection of history and private narratives by considering the process of recall and interpretation. Her work displays an accomplished virtuosity as she moves comfortably between the various disciplines of painting, printmaking and sculpture and since 2003 she has focused mainly on subverted feminine tropes and feminist themes. In her most recent solo exhibition Bend to Her Will (2017) she subtly and mischievously reframed the hobbyist art of flower arranging by appropriating the traditionally masculine art of Japanese Ikebana. Her sculptural work, primarily in bronze, parody Western masterpieces from Michelangelo, Henry Moore, and Warhol to Pierneef and take a refreshing look at these pivotal references from a woman’s perspective.

Born in Cape Town in 1975, Aggenbach currently lives and works in Woodstock, Cape Town. Her explorative work has secured her many achievements including winning the Absa L’Atelier Award in 2003. Her work is represented in numerous public and private collections, including Sasol, Absa, Spier, SABC, Red Bull (Austria), the South African National Gallery, 21C Museum in Kentucky (USA) and Anglo Gold.