a collaboration between Chignitta and Echos Design & Letterpress (Echos), a letterpress studio in Osaka, Japan. Seven illustrators and graphic designers selected by Chignitta have met with Echos to create original limited edition prints combining wood type and art. Each piece is a limited edition. Each piece is limited edition, signed with the artist’s handwritten edition number on the edge of the work, and comes with a certificate of authenticity.
Available now through May 31 at BASE.

https://chignitta.thebase.in/

Material and size: Letterpress print, limited edition of each color, A3 size, 29.7 cm × 42.0 cm, frame material: steel, acrylic
Retail price: ¥14,300 (tax included) Pre-order item
Estimated shipping date: June 6, 2022 – June 11, 2022
Shipping fee will be charged separately (2,000 yen including tax).

Each piece is hand-printed by the artist. Therefore, there may be uneven coloring, misprints, or clipping. Please understand them as a part of the artwork’s charm before you purchase.

Hajime Sakurai “N!RVANA

Nirvana and tranquility” is the state of enlightenment. Although this life is unreasonable and unstable, I would like to spend it peacefully if I can. My days are far from what I imagined my 40’s to be in a good way, but I can still smell the “smells like 40’s spirit” of an old man! I wish you a happy and fruitful life.

I have been interested in letterpress printing for a long time, and being able to participate in this event allowed me to experience its depth and to realize that there are still many possibilities for expression, depending on your ideas.
KAPPAN ‘N’ ART”, I believe, is an old and new art form.

https://chignitta.thebase.in/items/62633697

Handsome Design “SOUND

The concept of ECM RECORDS is “the next beautiful sound after silence.
I wondered what that means to me. In the silence, the first thing you hear should be birds chirping. I imagined the finished product printed by someone unknown somewhere in the past, using a lot of type, just like letterpress printing.

[Message].
Within the framework of letterpress printing, I was able to see how each of the participating artists did things, which gave me a lot of insight and inspiration, and made me want to do this or that next time. Standing in front of the large and heavy letterpress, I was transported back in time. It reminded me of the excitement of fire engines and trains when I was a child. The work was more difficult than I had imagined, but with the support of the reassuring staff, I felt at ease.

https://chignitta.thebase.in/items/62633908

Junzo Terada “PIECE OF PEACE

I had an image of letterpress as small graphics for business cards and postcards, but it was fun to be able to create works up to A3 size. I will go back to make more. In fact, I am going to print again today.

https://chignitta.thebase.in/items/62633746

Kouhei Miyazaki “GARDEN

This year’s independent production is based on the theme of GARDEN.
A garden for each of us. I wanted to express the gentle time that exists in each garden.

MESSAGE

I felt that letterpress is suitable for my line drawing touch.
I would like to continue to produce works for exhibitions and other occasions.

https://chignitta.thebase.in/items/62633846

Petunia” by Momo Hoshitani

Petunia means “peace of mind” and “happy time” in the language of flowers, and the idea is that no matter how bad or sad things may be, let’s make the present a happy time (toki) by eating delicious food and favorite foods! I hope this conveys a positive sentiment.
I hope this message will be conveyed in a positive way.

Message

Through this project, I tried letterpress printing for the first time, and I thought the process of printing each sheet by hand was very enjoyable and matched my own style quite well. I was also surprised that letterpress printing can produce very detailed expressions using resin plates. The unevenness of the paper, the different ink grains on each sheet, and even the slight deviations in the printing made me feel the warmth of the work, and I was reminded once again how nice it is to create something by hand.

https://chignitta.thebase.in/items/62633813

Taku Sakaguchi “KISS AND HUG

Over the past two years or so, people around the world have been restricted from direct contact with each other, and even casual handshakes and high-fives have become impossible. The work expresses the longing and urge to get together and speak out in words and line drawings of body communication, with a single line forming a shape and overlapping back and forth between the top and bottom of the letters.

[Message].

If I was going to go to the trouble of typesetting with wooden type, I decided to do something elaborate that I had never seen before. What would have been easy to do using only resin plates took several hours of turning the printing press handle while masking the type for each print run. I was able to experience the time-consuming, frustrating, and rewarding feeling that can only be experienced through manual work. We hope you will experience the feel of the paper and plate, the smell of the ink, and the elation when you see the finished product.

https://chignitta.thebase.in/items/62633983

Nanako Oki “JUST BREATHE

Everything that lives grows day by day and decays in the same way.
The desire to “keep this moment” and the wish to “change more” are two sides of the same coin, and in the end, the beauty and bitterness of “just living day by day” are just tossed about.
I expressed the idea of being at the mercy of the beauty and pain of “just living day by day” after all.

Message

Letterpress is just one means of expression. How you use it is up to you, and you are free to do so. However, I am surprised every time I print a letterpress that the result is beyond my imagination, for better or worse. We encourage you to go beyond your own imagination with your own hands.

https://chignitta.thebase.in/items/62634023