Lika Tov - Naomi, Ruth and Boaz - fragments of the "Ruth Scroll"from Qumran - Sold

Born in the Netherlands, she received her education at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. She moved to Israel in 1963 and lives in Jerusalem.

The technique that Lika Tov uses is called collagraphy. She works with a plate, a collage on thin cardboard, which during the printing process can be compared to an engraving on an etching press. She then edits the print in different ways and with different means.

About the technique:
The youngest of the printing techniques originated in the 20th century during the search for materials that are less harmful to health and the environment. Printing forms are made by pasting materials (in French 'coller').
It is different from a collage, although this is also done by pasting. A collage is finished after pasting. A collagraph plate is a printing form, which is inked and printed on a clean sheet of paper. That print is the collagraph print that is framed.
The technique is also fundamentally different from the relief or intaglio techniques. There you cut away wood or linoleum or let lines be eaten away from metal. With the collagraph you add materials. So you literally build up your printing form. Then you print it. That which is highest on your printing form will be the deepest form in your print.
The base can be a sheet of zinc, aluminium, (birch) plywood or cardboard. You can stick all kinds of materials on it, such as paper, scraps of cloth, dried tree leaves, etc. The condition is that they are 'stickable'. Plastic cannot be glued, so it turns out to be unusable. Other conditions are that they are not hard or too thick. The printing paper must be able to overcome the height differences in order not to tear.
After you have pasted a composition, it is a matter of applying a topcoat to limit ink penetration and then you can go for printing.
A collagraph printing plate can be 'soaked' with ink using a brush and then the excess ink can be wiped off. This is the same method as printing an etching. The deepest parts retain most of the ink and these are printed the blackest.
Another method is to lightly rub the printing plate with a piece of cotton on which you have dabbed a little ink. Then you only ink the superficial parts. You will then only see the highest parts of the printing plate in the deepest parts of the print.
Both in making the plate and in printing it there are many possibilities to develop your own signature. In this she also distinguishes herself from the 'old' techniques. In this it is more important to stick to the procedure to a certain extent.
Collagraph gives distinctly painterly prints. The effects are special. It is not really possible to work in great detail figuratively, but the collagraph technique offers completely new visual possibilities. The relief cannot be matched by any other technique. This technique invites you to 'play' with materials.