Metal leaf or metallic tissue papers have always been important elements of my printmaking practice, often used as chine collé pieces in collagraph prints. I noticed fairly early on that faux metal leaf, particularly copper, when exposed to the heat of a paint stripper gun, would oxidise and change colour in interesting ways. I use the idea to begin making reliefs with the leaf that were standalone pieces of art. These eventually resulted in the use of metallic paper pieces being combined with printing elements to produce fantastical figures.
