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The ADEMA Fine Arts “Think Tank” spaces in Son Rossinyol are hosting the Fundació Miró Mallorca’s Photopolymer Workshop this week—a training session focused on the artistic and technical possibilities of printmaking using photopolymer plates.
The workshop, held from August 31 to September 5, is led by Ramón J. Freire Santa Cruz—a tenured professor of Printmaking at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cuenca (University of Castilla-La Mancha/UCLM) and a specialist in photomechanical processes and their application to artistic creation. The activity is part of the Joan Miró Graphic Work Workshops and is conducted in collaboration with ADEMA.
The training introduces participants to photopolymer, a printmaking technique that uses a light-sensitive plate to transfer photographs, drawings, or digital images onto a matrix. Through a light-exposure process, the image is recorded onto the plate, which is subsequently processed, inked, and printed onto paper.
This procedure combines resources from photography and digital tools with traditional printmaking processes. Its versatility allows for the reproduction of everything from photographic images to original drawings, and enables work with a wide range of details, textures, strokes, and tonal values.
During the sessions, participants are delving into the entire process of creating a photopolymer plate—from image preparation and the control of parameters such as density and exposure to plate processing, inking, and subsequent printing.
The program also explores the creative potential of autographic and digital positives as mediums. The former allows for work based on gesture, drawing, and various manually created materials, while the latter incorporates digital tools and processes to prepare the image before transferring it to the matrix.
In this way, the training presents photopolymer not merely as a reproduction process, but as a tool for experimentation and research within contemporary printmaking.
Hosting this activity in the ADEMA Fine Arts “Think Tank” spaces is part of a collaboration with the Fundació Miró Mallorca, bringing processes linked to research and the new possibilities of contemporary graphic art closer to the university community.