Inside the making of HOME with Naomi Faifai
In Spring 2023, something began to bloom. Naomi Faifai partnered with award-winning Auckland screen printers, Artrite, to produce her first ever limited edition screenprint, Home.
Spending several days in the studio alongside master screenprinter Glenn Taylor, Naomi immersed herself in the screenprinting process, developing an original artwork for the project while gaining a deeper understanding of the craftsmanship behind each print.
The result is an 11-colour silkscreen print, released as a limited edition of only 25. Each print is individually signed and numbered by the artist, and finished with Artrite's embossed mark.
For an artist whose practice is deeply rooted in intuition, storytelling and everyday life, Home became a fitting starting point for her first limited edition print.
We revisit this with Naomi, as she explains:
So much of my work begins at the dining table, at home. It's where I make sketches, play with ideas and spend time creating around the rhythms and often chaos of everyday life.
The concept for the work emerged naturally from this environment, not only the physical space itself, but the feeling attached to it.
When I started thinking about a theme for my first screenprint it felt right to begin there, a place of creativity, whānau & connection. 'Home' draws from familiar objects, patterns and routine moments that fill a day, exploring how home can be both a physical place and a feeling.
While the imagery feels effortless and immediate, the process behind translating Naomi's expressive visual language into a screenprint required considerable experimentation and technical precision.
Unlike painting or drawing, screenprinting demands careful planning. Each colour is separated into its own layer and printed individually, with every layer precisely aligned to build the final image.
For Naomi, entering this process meant adapting her instinctive way of working into an entirely new medium.
The screenprinting process was completely new to me, and came with some interesting challenges. My way of working is quite intuitive and spontaneous, so translating that into a process that requires planning, the technical aspect of working across multiple layers and collaboration, took a bit of experimentation and learning.
Working closely with Artrite, Naomi explored ways to preserve the energy and texture that define her original works.
I spent some time testing different methods to build layers and interesting mark-making within the print, looking for ways to mimic qualities of pastel lines and a textured surface.
As with many printmaking processes, refinement came through repetition, adjustment and trialling different approaches.
There was plenty of trial and error with colour choices, and simplifying or translating elements of the original sketch, while keeping the energy and feeling!
That balance between technical precision and emotional immediacy is what makes Home such a compelling work.
The final print retains the warmth, rhythm and intimacy so central to Naomi's practice, while also celebrating the craftsmanship of traditional screenprinting. Deeply personal, Home marks an important milestone in her career and presents a rare opportunity to collect a print by one of Aotearoa's most exciting emerging artists.
Note: Once the edition is sold out, no further prints of this artwork will be produced.
