Featured Artist: Richard Marsden

A Year of Metal

Richard Marsden is a printmaker based in Glasgow, born in Leeds; he has an MLitt in Fine Art Practice (Printmaking) from the Glasgow School of Art, is a founding member of the Leeds Print Workshop and has had solo exhibitions in Glasgow, Leeds and Berlin. He also works as a part-time gallery assistant at Glasgow Print Studio.

Architecture has often informed the start of Marsden's process. In this series of works, he has used multi-plate etching to overlap images of brutalist architecture, creating unplanned and sometimes unexpected compositions. Through further overlapping, drawing, and refinement, they have begun to evolve into their own visual, formalistic language.

After spending a decade experimenting with screenprinting, Marsden attended an etching course at Glasgow Print Studio at the beginning of 2024 and has continued to play with and develop his knowledge of the process. These prints focus on composition, tone, and depth. There is contrast but also very subtle layers within the darkest sections of the works. Wanting to experiment further with these layers of black, Marsden has also added screenprinted elements to some of the prints, utilising his now multifaceted practice.

"Meaning has never played a significant role in my art. What is important to the work and myself is trusting my process-led way of working, wherever that may lead."