This print is one of only 50 created, so don't wait to place your order! The artist has generously agreed to donate 70% of the proceeds from her prints to Soul Food.
 
Artist: Born in 1997, Laura Tolen is a Franco-Cameroonian visual artist. She grew up in Douala, Cameroon, before entering the Beaux-Arts in Paris, where she graduated from in 2020. She has participated in several group exhibitions in Paris, Italy and Cameroon. In 2021, one of her pieces entered the Société Générale Art Collection. Laura Tolen works primarily on the construction and transmission of memory, and the role it plays in intergenerational relationships within the family. Children often have a central place in her work.

Piece: "In Search of the Lost Treasure" is an ode to childhood, and those moments of play that turn into adventures. The title evokes the characters who dig in the sand in search of treasure, but is also a metaphor for those carefree childhood moments, precious but quickly passed.
 
The technique used: According to the printing studio, Maison Riso, "Risography is close to mechanized screen printing. A risograph is a type of duplicator: a machine based on the technique of reproduction by stencil, allowing for prints with a very graphic rendering, in large quantities. The shape of the current risograph emerged in the 1980s, but the principle dates back to the mimeograph. Its name comes from RISO Kagaku Corporation, a Japanese firm named after its inventor."
 
RISO duplicating ink is soy based. The fluorescent pigments used for your risography is a fragile emulsion which can "drool" if rubbed.
 
The paper is made from 100% recycled paper pulp.
 
The inks are made from soybean vegetable oil or rice waste, they are of recycled origin, recyclable, do not contain Volatile Organic Compounds (V.O.V.), and their manufacture does not waste raw materials.