Christine den Hartogh

Picture
  • Natural mark making and botanical printing
  • Mixed media, printmaking
  • Photography

Born and raised in the Netherlands, Christine is a photojournalist and a documentary photographer who has traveled the world looking for stories to tell through photographs. She has exhibited widely and her stories have been featured in many magazines and newspapers.
In 2016 she came to New Zealand with her family to settle in Mangawhai. 

Christine is now venturing into new areas of creativity, exploring combinations of photography, printmaking, book art and textile art.
The abundance of nature in New Zealand has inspired her to start exploring natural mark making and botanical contact printing (eco printing).

This is a completely natural process where she prints using flowers and leaves and sometimes objects from the local area. Fabric and paper are sometimes mordanted with soy or minerals. Gathered material is then placed and prints are made through heat and pressure. There is no ink or paint involved in this process. All color and detail comes directly from the plant material. This process does not involve any chemicals. Each piece is unique, with colors and lines varying based on any mordants used, plus the stage of leaf growth, growing conditions, time of year and location.

In 2017 Christine had the opportunity to study with several eco printing gurus, including India Flint and Irit Dulman. Each of them gave her a different outlook on printing this way, deepening her knowledge and curiosity on the subject.
Christine and her eco printing have been featured in an episode of the TV series Neighbourhood, which can be found on TVNZ on demand.

As her work evolves, it may be infused by other disciplines. Sometimes the print is the finished product; other times it will be part of something larger.
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Christine’s  studio is located just outside of Mangawhai, on top of a hill overlooking the beautiful Pacific on one side and the inspirational Brynderwyn Hills on the other. 

www.ChrissiesEye.com
www.facebook.com/artdecoMangawhai/