Canadian Print Stories is a publishing project and collaborative platform celebrating the breadth and diversity of printmaking culture in Canada. Printmaking is one of the most pervasive, technologically revolutionary, and historically influential art forms, yet it is often sidelined in the contemporary art world, and there remains a marked lack of critical writing on fine art print practice and theory in Canada and beyond. This project endeavours to bridge this gap, featuring interviews, essays, studio stories, and personal narratives by artists, researchers, curators, and educators. We believe it is our collective responsibility to advocate for the future of print-based practices and pedagogy, while taking stock of our shared histories. In creating an online gathering place for conversation and collective storytelling, our aim is to build an open access resource and archive for all those interested in Canadian printmaking and its place in the global art world.

Participating Artists:

• Alexa Greist
• Andrew Atanasoff
• Andrew Testa
• Anna Gaby-Trotz
• Canadian Letterpress Alliance
• David Scott Armstrong
• Dickson Bau
• Emma Nishimura
• James Kwasistala
• Jillian Ross Print
• Jonathan S. Green
• Joscelyn Gardner
• Jun Lee
• Laine Groeneweg
• Lisa Baldiserra
• Mitch Akiyama
• Nadine Bariteau
• Nancy Tousley
• Panya Clark Espinal
• Pat Macauley
• Patrick Mahon
• Sean McLachlan (Printmonger Press)
• Suzie Smith
• Tara Cooper
• Thomas Whitely
• Yael Brotman

Who we are:

Jenn Law is a multi-disciplinary artist and anthropologist based in Toronto. Working across print-based media, Law’s practice explores cultural ecologies and processes of material storytelling. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, UK, a BA in Anthropology from McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, and a BFA from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. Law has exhibited her work internationally, publishing widely on contemporary art and print culture, and has worked as a lecturer, curator, and editor in Canada, the UK, and South Africa. She is the co-editor of Printopolis, published by Open Studio, Toronto, and has contributed to publications such as Craftwork as Problem Solving: Ethnographic Studies of Design and Making (edited by Trevor H. J. Marchand) and Printmaking in the Expanded Field (edited by Jan Stefan Pettersson, Oslo National Academy of the Arts). In 2017, Law co-founded the experimental publishing platform Arts + Letters Press and the journal art + reading. Her solo exhibition “This is how we survive” at Smokestack Gallery, Hamilton is on until October 23, 2026. 

 www.jennlaw.com  | @jenn_rose_law

Brendan Copestake is the co-owner and manager of Jillian Ross Print, a collaborative printmaking studio based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, working primarily with Canadian and South African artists, studios, institutions, and galleries to develop art projects, exhibitions, workshops, talks, and print publishing. He has been actively involved in the arts in South Africa as a freelance project manager, designer, and consultant for almost two decades through his company Parts & Labour. This has included work as the Technical Director of the Johannesburg Art Fair, various exhibitions at the Apartheid Museum, The Nelson Mandela Capture Site, and the Javett Art Centre, as well as the management of numerous public art installations. Copestake project-managed the South Africa Pavillion at the Venice Biennale in 2015, 2017, and 2019. Following his move to Canada with Jillian Ross in 2020, Copestake joined the City of Saskatoon’s Public Art Advisory Committee in 2021, was the Vice-Chair in 2024, and became a board member for the 525. Once in a while he rolls up his sleeves, gets his hands dirty, and helps Jill with the printing. 

www.jillianrossprint.com  | @jillianrossprint