Press + Print

During the Covid lockdown, artist Kerry Lemon developed PRESS + PRINT, a participatory artwork inviting residents in two communities just outside Bristol to contribute to a permanent public artwork. To support the neccessary participation at home, 250 postal cyanotype kits were distributed. Each kit contained materials, instructions and access to a website with videos guiding participants through the process.

The project unfolded in five stages:

1 - PRESSED PLANTS
Participants learned to identify, safely collect and press plants found on their daily walks, encouraging close observation of local biodiversity.

2 - CYANOTYPES
At home, participants arranged their pressed plants onto cyanotype paper to create distinctive sunlight prints.

3 - SCANNING
The cyanotypes were scanned and submitted to the artist, who compiled the images into designs for permanent vitreous enamel street furniture for the site.

4 - EXHIBITION
Residents displayed their cyanotype prints in their home windows, forming a neighbourhood exhibition accompanied by a map for socially distanced walks.

5 - MUSEUM HERBARIUM
Pressed plant specimens were donated to Bristol Museum, where they were accessioned as a Community Herbarium, documenting both the area’s plant life and the shared experience of lockdown.

PRESS + PRINT connected residents to local plant life while transforming their contributions into a lasting public artwork.

Client: South Gloucester Council

Kit Design: Zoe Murphy

Web Design: Lorna Crystal

Mentees: Shula Soleman, Velvet Butler Carroll, Alex Taljaard 

Partners and consultants: British Horse Society, Friends of Emerson Green Park, Ed Drewitt, National Composites Centre, Creative Youth Network, Live West Housing Association, Sovereign Housing Association, Bromford Housing Association, Mangotsfield C of E Primary School, Lyde Green Primary, Emersons Green Primary, Mangotsfield School, Downend School, Emersons Green Community Choir, Emersons Green Library, Emerson Green Village Hall, Lyde Green Community Centre, Avon Wildlife Trust, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, BRERC, RSPB, UWE Sustainability and Biodiversity, UWE Community Engagement, Bristol Museums, Green Square Estate, Emersons Green Scouts, Lyde Green Beavers and Cubs, Dibden Lane Allotments, Bristol Naturalist Society, Grade & Grain, SCAL3D, Ollie Nemeth (Skate Consultant), WECA, St Barnabas C of E School.