The Place of Screen Printing in Contemporary New Zealand Art in 2026

In an art world increasingly shaped by digital tools, AI-generated imagery and instant reproduction, I think there is something particularly valuable about a work that still shows evidence of the human hand.

That is one reason screen printing continues to matter in contemporary New Zealand art.

A screen print is not simply an image transferred onto paper. It is built layer by layer. Colours are separated, screens are prepared, inks are mixed and each layer has to register against the one before it. When the process is done by hand, those decisions remain visible in the finished work.

For me, that physicality is central to why I continue to work with screen printing.

I am a contemporary New Zealand artist based in Auckland, working across painting, screen printing and sculpture. Screen printing has become an important part of my practice because it allows me to take the painterly qualities of an original work and rebuild them through a completely different process.

Screen Printing as an Antidote to Digital Perfection

Digital images can be edited, duplicated and perfected almost indefinitely.

Screen printing doesn't work that way.

When I prepare one of my screen prints, I have to break the original artwork down into individual colour layers. Each layer becomes part of a physical printing process, and each one has to be considered in relation to everything that comes before and after it.

That is particularly apparent in a work such as Nothing for Granted, which uses 29 separate colours. Every colour requires its own screen, its own ink and its own pass through the press. The separations are done by hand before the work is printed in partnership with Artrite Screen Printing in Auckland.

The result is not digital perfection.

It is controlled craftsmanship.

There can be tiny variations in registration, ink and surface. I don't see those qualities as flaws that need to be hidden. They are part of what tells you that the artwork has passed through a physical process.

That is the appeal of handmade screen prints: the process remains part of the artwork.

From Aotearoa's Printmaking History to Contemporary Practice

Screen printing doesn't exist in isolation within New Zealand's art history.

Aotearoa has a long relationship with printmaking, from early printing and publishing through to modernist and contemporary artists working with lithography, woodcut, etching and screenprint.

Printmaking became particularly important within New Zealand's twentieth-century art scene. Artists explored the medium not simply as a way of reproducing paintings, but as a way of making original work. Christchurch Art Gallery's research into Aotearoa New Zealand printmakers describes twentieth-century printmaking as one of the country's most progressive and dynamic periods of art history.

Screenprinting became particularly significant from the 1960s onwards.

One important example is Gordon Walters, who began producing screenprints in 1969 with printmaker Mervyn Williams. Their collaboration continued through the 1970s and 1980s, resulting in twelve screenprints and bringing Walters' precisely constructed geometric imagery into a medium particularly suited to flat colour and carefully controlled forms.

Robin White also explored screenprinting during the early part of her career. Her 1974 work Mangaweka, held by Christchurch Art Gallery, demonstrates how the medium could translate the sharp-edged realism of her painting into print. White taught herself the technical intricacies of screenprinting largely through trial and error.

That history matters because it shows that screenprinting isn't a new trend imported into New Zealand contemporary art. It has already established a place within the country's artistic vocabulary.

The medium continues to evolve because artists keep finding new reasons to use it.

Screen Printing in Contemporary New Zealand Art Today

The current New Zealand art scene shows that printmaking remains commercially and culturally relevant.

A good example is the Aotearoa Art Fair, where the Works on Paper sector brings together drawing, printmaking, photography and editions. For the 2026 Fair, the sector specifically included fine art screenprinting, with Auckland studio Artrite Screen Printing presenting work by artists including Michael Smither, Dagmar Dyck, Matt Payne, Brad Novak and myself. 

Aotearoa Art Fair — Works on Paper

That is significant because it places screen printing within the wider contemporary art market rather than treating it as a niche craft.

The Fair also describes Works on Paper as one of its more accessible entry points for new collectors, with works available across a range of budgets.

Where Different Artistic Disciplines Meet

Contemporary screen printing isn't restricted to one visual style.

Artists can combine it with:

• painting
• photography
• collage
• drawing
• digital imagery
• scanned textures
• mixed media

That flexibility is particularly relevant now because contemporary artists aren't necessarily choosing between traditional and digital processes.

A digital image can become a starting point for a physical stencil. A photograph can be separated into individual colours. A painted mark can be rebuilt through layers of ink.

In my own practice, I start with an original painting and then rebuild the image through hand-separated colour layers. The final print isn't simply a digital copy of the painting. It is a new physical interpretation of it.

That distinction is important.

The screen print has its own material character, even though its starting point may be a painting.

Why Imperfection Has Value

One of the interesting things about screenprinting is that it combines precision with physical variation.

Every colour needs to register correctly. Every layer changes the surface. Transparent and opaque inks behave differently. The sequence in which colours are printed can affect the final result.

When you're working with a large number of colours, a tiny registration shift can change the relationship between layers.

That is something you learn to respect when you're working with the process.

A hand pulled screen print therefore carries evidence of the decisions involved in making it. The physical qualities of the ink, the edges of the layers and the relationship between colours become part of how the artwork is experienced.

In an increasingly automated visual culture, that physical evidence has become more—not less—interesting.

Works on Paper and the New Zealand Art Market

For many people beginning to collect New Zealand art prints, works on paper provide a practical entry point.

A painting is a unique object. A print edition allows an artist to make a finite number of works from the same artistic process, which can make collecting contemporary art more accessible.

But "accessible" doesn't mean insignificant.

Current New Zealand gallery listings demonstrate a broad range of prices for screenprints. ARTIS Gallery, for example, currently lists Michael Smither screenprints from around NZ$200 to NZ$1,500, with many works falling between NZ$400 and NZ$1,200. These are individual retail examples rather than a fixed market-wide price range, but they illustrate the breadth available to collectors.

Sam Leitch's own In Two Minds screen print, for example, is listed at NZ$750 for a limited edition of 30, plus artist proofs and single editions. It is a 14-colour screenprint on Fabriano Artistico cotton art paper, with all separations completed by hand.

For someone entering the art market, this means a collector can engage with original, artist-directed printmaking without necessarily starting at the price level of a one-off painting.

Explore Sam Leitch's screen prints →

Why the Materials Matter

The physical materials are not an afterthought.

My screen prints are printed on Fabriano Artistico 100% cotton paper, chosen for its quality and longevity. The paper is acid-free and designed for fine art applications.

The printing itself is carried out with Artrite Screen Printing, an Auckland studio with more than 40 years of experience producing fine art editions. Their history includes work with major New Zealand artists including Colin McCahon, Don Binney, Pat Hanly, Gordon Walters, Ralph Hotere, Gretchen Albrecht and Dick Frizzell.

For me, that partnership is important.

A screen print can involve 15 or more hours of colour separation before it even reaches the printing stage. Once the screens are prepared, the printing can take multiple days depending on the complexity of the work.

When you're investing that much time into an edition, the paper, ink, registration and printing expertise all matter.

Why Collectors Are Still Drawn to Screen Prints

A good screen print brings several things together.

Accessibility

Editioned works can provide a more approachable entry into collecting contemporary art.

Physical craftsmanship

The work is built through a physical, layered process rather than simply output from a digital file.

Defined scarcity

A limited edition has a fixed number of authorised impressions.

Visual impact

Screenprinting is particularly effective for bold colour, graphic compositions and complex layers.

Connection to the artist

A signed and numbered edition creates a direct relationship between the collector and a specific body of work.

My own editions are individually named, numbered and signed, and once an edition is completed, I don't release more prints from it.

That matters to me because an edition should actually mean something.

Contemporary New Zealand Art Is Still Being Made by Hand

The future of contemporary New Zealand art isn't necessarily a choice between technology and traditional techniques.

The more interesting possibility is what happens when artists use both.

Screen printing can incorporate digital imagery while retaining a physical process. It can translate paintings into editions while remaining materially different from the original. It can sit comfortably alongside photography, sculpture, installation and digital art.

And it continues a New Zealand tradition of artists using printmaking as a serious artistic medium rather than simply a method of reproduction.

For collectors exploring New Zealand art prints, that makes contemporary screen printing worth looking at closely.

The medium has history, but it isn't stuck in the past.

It is still evolving.

Explore Sam Leitch's Screen Prints

My screen prints are developed from original artworks and rebuilt through hand-separated colour layers, working with Artrite Screen Printing in Auckland.

Explore the collections:

• Nothing for Granted
• Devotion
• All Screen Prints

If you're new to the process and want to understand what is screen printing, the next step is to look at how a serigraph is actually made, from the first colour separation through to the final edition.