Kate Gibb

February 19, 2018

Kate Gibb is one of the artists who voluntarily created a Face This tee with the drawings made by the Indonesian kids. She’s known for her extensive collaboration with The Chemical Brothers for whom she designed mostly all their album sleeves for. We’ve asked her some questions about our collaboration.

Face This: Kate, please tell us who you are and what you do.

I’m a silkscreen artist working from my makeshift print studio in Paddington, London. I work commercially as an illustrator and am a silkscreen obsessive.

Face This: Can you tell us something about the process of your artwork?

In its origin silkscreen is a print method of mass/repetitive production. The obvious plus side to this characteristic is one can make multiples of your work, with ease. But for me this sort of regimented, carbon copy technique holds less interest. By applying different pressures to your squeegee for example, you create a different impression for each print/layer applied. My passion for silkscreen lies in the very fact that your outcome can be varied every time you apply a colour, thus producing unique pieces of work. Often in the same vein but still individual. I really don’t want everything to look the same. My attitude to the silkscreen process is continually inquisitive, experimental. I have no set procedures and it’s often a case of ‘just try it, see what happens..’.

Face This: How is working with kids’ drawings different from working with artwork from ‘other’ clients?

Usually it is my job to come up with, find, draw, collage all the imagery for a client to create them an illustration. Often under strict guidelines. To be given a folder of wonderful, energetic kids drawings which I find so inspiring is a luxury. I am doing the easy bit, colouring them up & moving them around. The kids have already done the hard, creative work ; )

Face This: Why did you decide to work with us and what did you think of creating art-work with drawings from Indonesian kids?

I’ve been to one of the places that Face This sponsor: Lombok. I’d never travelled anywhere like this before then and it really changed my thoughts on the world. Opened my mind. How much more to life there is, it was a very rich experience. I feel it is important to give back in life and this was an opportunity to do just this.