Brooklyn, NY

Holly E. Brown, founder and owner of Clockworks Press™ is a Brooklyn-based artist specializing in collagraph printmaking.  Inherently, drawn to architecture and strong black and white photography she uses her iPhone as a portable sketchbook. These images are then drawn on the surface of a recycled fiberboard and hand carved over many hours. Through a reductive process of tearing layers she creates a range of values. With eco-friendly practices already in place in her studio, it was during Holly’s solo show at Ray Brandstore (2016) in Delft, Netherlands that the idea of printing on re-purposed denim came to fruition. Taken with the idea of creating a portable print she developed her first product, “The Denim Clutch” which launched at New York Denim Days, September 2018. Printed in a limited edition on recycled jeans and fully manufactured in NYC each bag is unique and sustainable. Holly has been working closely with Officina 39+, a sustainable dyestuff company in Italy to use a pigment made from textile production waste in combination with Speedball fabric inks.

Holly’s etchings can be found in the permanent collections of The Library of Congress, Yale University and Princeton University, among others. Holly teaches visual art at Convent of the Sacred Heart, NYC and printmaking workshops at Atelier Indrukwekkend, Delft, Netherlands.

View Artist Website

Images of Work

Techniques

Collagraph Relief Printmaking working on re-purposed denim & paper

Favorite Products

Speedball Fabric Block Printing Ink is my go-to for printing on textiles. With a wide range of colors and the transparent base, I have been able to use the ink in combination with a pigment made from textile production waste. It’s eco-friendly cleanup of soap and water align beautifully with my studio practices.

In addition, I have been using Speedball rubber brayers for over 20 years and find them to be economical and versatile for the professional studio and the classroom. With a wide range of sizes they are ideal for working in any scale.

 

 

Upcoming Workshops/Events

gallery@ AGI Denim is pleased to announce the opening of Exquisite Blue Towers, an exhibition of collaborative artworks that celebrate indigo as a color by artists Holly E. Brown, Juan Manuel, and Mauro Arroyave. The show will run from July 22 to August 6, 2022, with an opening reception on July 21, 2022 at 6:30 PM in gallery@'s Chelsea NYC gallery.

gallery@ AGI Denim

548 W 28 St

Suite 530

NYC 10001

The artworks use towers to connect three cities: Biella, New York, and Medellín. During the creation process, the artists were inspired by the Surrealist movement of the early 20th century. Techniques to be presented include drawing, painting, and printmaking with Officina+39 Recycrom™️ as a medium.

gallery@ is the art-celebrating arm of AGI Denim, a B Corp certified leader in Pakistan's denim industry. The mission of gallery@ is to champion working artists by providing gallery and logistics support, including space, materials, and marketing.

Henry Wong, gallery@'s Gallery Director, says "For this show, three artists who share our deep passion for denim were selected to exhibit. Holly E. Brown, Juan Manuel, and Mauro Arroyave have brought their unique styles into the collaborative statement entitled Exquisite Blue Towers. We are so excited to share this with the world."