Michele Rolstone's work focuses on the relationship between our inner an outer worlds, and the way in which we simultaneously exist in both. In light of this, the concept of liminality is one that she often finds herself returning to. Anthropologically speaking, liminality refers to the stage, usually in ritual ceremony, where the subject ceases to be what it was but has not yet become what it will be. The word liminal refers to something that sits at, or on both sides of a boundary or threshold. Rolstone sees liminal spaces as kinetic and transformative and attempt to keep an element of this alive in her work.

My work is often experimental, both in medium and style. It is largely the idea or the subject matter, which determines my approach to form and medium. I am fascinated by printmaking for its link to an invention that marked a major paradigm shift for society. However, I break from traditional printmaking here. Rather than producing an edition from my plates or blocks, I use the mechanical reproduction of the press to allow me to build rich textured layers and explore the use of pattern as a metaphor. 

Biography 

Michele Rolstone graduated from Michaelis School for Fine Art, UCT in 2010. Upon taking up her first studio late in 2012, Rolstone crossed paths with South African printmaker Judy Woodborne, under whose mentorship she has been honing her skills as a printmaker. 

As a member of Woodborne’s Intaglio Studio, Rolstone has offered printmaking classes as well as professional printmaking services having assisted Woodborne in the production of printed editions for numerous artists (including Faith47). 

Rolstone has participated in a number of International Printmaking Biennales where one submission was selected for further exhibition in NYC, and another is now in the collection of the Muzeum Miasta Ostrowa Wielkopolskiego, Poland. Rolstone was also selected for an international print exchange with The Printmaker’s Showcase in 2017, and presented her first solo exhibition in March 2018 as part of the University of Stellenbosch Woordfees visual arts programme. While Rolstone works largely with print media, her work often gravitates to the sculptural.