UWTSD Printmaking Demonstrator Launches Online Exhibition Celebrating Welsh Writers and Poets

20 January 2026

A new online exhibition by Peter Spriggs, Printmaking Technical Demonstrator at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s Dynevor Campus, has launched, showcasing a unique and evolving collaborative printmaking project titled Talking Heads.

A mono printed image of a man wearing dark glasses.

Available to view online via SwanseaPrintmakers.com, Talking Heads is a live, long-term project in which Peter aims to create a portfolio of portrait prints of living Welsh poets and writers, produced using traditional collagraph printmaking techniques.

The project brings together visual art and literature through direct collaboration. For each work, Peter meets with a poet or writer to engage in dialogue, using these conversations as the basis for his visual interpretation. Once the portrait is complete, the poet or writer is invited to contribute a handwritten verse, line, or excerpt of their work directly onto the print, alongside their signature. Peter also signs each print, formally completing the collaboration.

Each finished piece functions as both an artwork and a document, combining portraiture, original literary text, handwriting and dual authorship. The resulting prints offer a layered record of creative exchange, capturing not only the likeness of each poet or writer, but also their voice, words, and personal mark.

Speaking about the project, Peter Spriggs said that Talking Heads is driven by a desire to explore the relationship between image, text, and identity, while celebrating contemporary Welsh literary culture through printmaking.

The online exhibition includes images of the finished prints as well as insight into the printmaking process itself, including photographs of collagraph blocks and prints. The project continues to evolve as new collaborations are added over time.

Caroline Thraves, Academic Director Art & Media at Swansea College of Art, UWTSD said: “This exhibition reflects the strength of practice-based learning and research within Swansea College of Art, UWTSD. Peter’s work not only showcases exceptional printmaking skill but also models the kind of creative collaboration we encourage our students to engage with, where conversation, process and authorship are central to the work.”

Images credit: Jackie Ford