Vic Barquin’s collaboration with Pigeon Hole Press was unique. Rather than creating new plates for the edition, Barquin repurposed plates from previous projects, using a jeweler’s saw to create novel forms and arrangements. Collage is already integral to Barquin’s practice, and Peppermint Stick (for Cathy) allowed her to extend this process, collaging with matrices rather than paper. Through studio sessions at Pigeon Hole, her cut plates were jigsawed together on the press bed like puzzle pieces until a desired composition was achieved.

The edition echoes the tactile surfaces seen throughout Barquin’s work – textures created with rubber gloves and soft ground etching are juxtaposed with a halftone pattern on the edge of disintegration. Fluorescent and bold yet with subtle intricacies, the two fragments are separated by an embossed, playful line formed through the pressure of printing: a reminder of the material realities central to the process.