Etching with Saltwater and Copper

Make a saltwater etched copper plate drawing on the material history of Cyprus, where the slow intrusion of brackish water is not only a geochemical process but also a material witness to over-extraction, climatic strain, and shifting land use. Copper, its name derived from the island itself (aes cyprium), formed when ancient seawater circulated through volcanic rocks on the ocean floor, dissolving metals and redepositing them as copper-rich sulphides as the fluids cooled. In the face of today’s increasingly saline aquifers, we shall reclaim saltwater as a tool to build heritage. Participants will learn an acid-free alternative to traditional etching using saltwater and electricity, creating copper etching plates to print from. The workshop combines drawing, basic chemistry, and printmaking to explore situated material practices.

Hour 1: Introduction to saltwater etching principles; plate preparation, drawing, and/or vinyl cutting of designs.

Hour 2: Demonstration of electro-etching in copper using brine solution + break.

Hour 3: Printing etched plates.

By the end, participants will have produced their own etched copper plate and print, gaining a practical, accessible technique for studio or home use that aligns with material curiosity.

No prior experience needed - just an interest in art, material processes, or sustainability in the studio! For those not confident in drawing, or for those who want to explore photographic etching, bring a digital image with you to test out.

Claudia Lehmann is an artist, spatial practitioner, and researcher tracing currents from the high atmosphere to the deep subsurface. Her practice examines infrastructures that enclose and extract from hydro-geo-cultural landscapes, using fieldwork and material archives to explore how traces of memory are inscribed in the land. Claudia investigates how water moves through bodies and boundaries, foregrounding traditional knowledges and situated practices that resist dominant development narratives. Growing up in Penwith, amongst mining histories and neolithic sites, attuned her to the entanglement of human and more-than-human forces shaping her collaborative practice in Cyprus, Crete, Coorg, and Cornwall.

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