Cutting Edge PrintMaking in Practice
The 3D Printing and Printmaking Workshop explored the interface between traditional printing techniques and 3D printing.
It presented research undertaken by Hamish Oakley-Browne of Te Kowhai Print Trust and Kim Newall of AwhiWorld to develop methods and practices that move between emerging and traditional print practices.
It has now evolved into The Emerging Print Lab
Practice-Led Research
Hamish Oakley-Browne has been part of the Awhi Incubator programme as an individual practitioner and director of Te Kowhai Print Trust. In collaboration with AwhiWorld’s Kim Newall, TKPT has been actively engaging in creative innovation, particularly in their experimentation with 3D printing.
Kim has been researching 3D printing for some time, finding ways to move it from functional to artistic realms. Together with Hamish, they have been focussed on a traditional printmaking technique called relief printing – exploring how it can be enacted with a 3D printer. Instead of wood or vinyl cuts, the printer creates blocks, which are then used for printing.
The technique is its type of practice, not replicating the results of relief printing – more creating its own aesthetic and functional parameters.
They have also been printing small 3D printers as part of the worldwide Open Press Project, which is now being used around NZ. First debuted at Printapalooza.
About The Researchers
Hamish Oakley-Browne is an artist and Director of Te Kowhai Print Trust, a community-owned open-access print studio in Northland. His art practice explores the cross-section of fine arts printmaking and publishing. Utilising historical techniques and contemporary innovations in print and publishing practices, he seeks to disrupt the hierarchy of materiality using New materialist and situationist approaches to give agency to the whole experienced environment of printmaking.
Hamish contributed to the Alternative Reality Gardening publication and symposium. AwhiWorld sees Te Kowhai Print Trust as a valued collaborator and research partner and have worked on Printapalooza and PrintTopia with Hamish and his crew.
About Kim Newall
Kim Newall is a creative practitioner and performance artist who specialises in integrating emerging technologies (e.g., AR, IoT, 3D printing) with traditional tools and practices. His work includes performance and immersive and interactive installations. He holds a Master of Creative Technologies, has taught at the tertiary level, and has delivered numerous community workshops and peer coaching. He is the lead Creative Technologist at AwhiWorld.
About ARG Lab 24 & Awhi Incubator
This experience was part of the Alternative Reality Gardening Lab – a creative innovation event within the capacity-building Awhi Incubator Project. ARG Lab 24 showcased research conducted by participants and collaborators of the Awhi Incubator during 2023/2024.
Following a successful publication and symposium in 2023, ARG Lab 24 is a transdisciplinary collection of exhibitions, events, performances, workshops, and talks exploring diverse perspectives on place. It occurred in various locations across Te Tai Tokerau|Northland from May 17th to the 25th.
Underpinning the lab are themes of resilience, diversity, sustainability, and an expanded understanding of the concept of ‘place”.
Places today are formed from multiple intelligences, materialities, and lifeforms and are intersected by a rich array of alternative realities and parallel worlds. Flora, fauna, signals, and code entangle, and what is considered real, true, alive, and beautiful is negotiated. The lab explores emerging new types of gardens. What is being cultivated (internally, creatively, physically, spiritually)? What is thriving, and what needs protection? What new lifeforms and materials are emerging, and how do they intersect with what exists now?
ARG Lab 24: TV

Thanks to the Ministry of Culture and Heritage | Manatū Taonga for funding the Awhi Incubator Project through their Innovation Fund.





























