Sweets Workshop

An exhibition celebrating Print Gocco, featuring many Australian artists who use the Gocco to create their work. 

What is Gocco?

A self-contained compact color printing system invented in 1977 by Noboru Hayama. It’s similar to screen printing, but in a mini form.

When: Saturday 23rd March – 16th April

Time: Official exhibition opening at 2pm, Saturday 23rd March

Location: Shop 4, 58-60 Carlton Crescent, Summer Hill NSW (Just opposite Summer Hill Station)

Demo: Print gocco demo 1.30pm, Saturday 6th April 

GOCCO ARTISTS 

Benconservato (NSW) is the alias of Emma Kidd an artist / illustrator. She has traveled and lived in Europe and a land of mythical animals. Her heart is still in both, despite loving being back in Australia. She encourages you to find your inner monster.

"I like the fact Gocco is accessible, compact and a little lo-fi, even if the later can drive you crazy if you had something else in mind."

Bubala (Jo Everett, NSW) Following a career in Graphic Design, and at home looking after her small children, Jo had extremely itchy feet for some hands-on creativity and starting creating personal and household items. This indulged her love of fabric, sewing and printmaking and also followed her philosophy that to live every day with things you love is good for the soul.

“Coming to Gocco after block and screen printing, I found it quite an unusual process but fun and inspiring. Gocco allows me to play with the precision of a computer generated design but with the feel of a hand made print, each one being slightly different - I love the fact that the Gocco process itself adds a little something of its own to your design: another dimension.  Added to that is the fact that you can print multiple copies really quickly and easily. Fantastic!”

Cat Rabbit (VIC) is a textile artist who predominantly creates anthropomorphised plush animals while imagining the worlds they might live in. Cat's practice is centred around the idea of making extraordinary objects out of humble materials. Working with soft sculpture and embroidery techniques, Cat creates one of a kind pieces for exhibitions, her online store and selected markets and retailers. 

Cat has created Owl Know How, a book for Children, with Isobel Knowles as well as being featured in many publications such as Frankie, Peppermint and Yen.

-- Gocco forever!

Do A bit (Lamina Godman, NSW) lives in lovely sunny Sydney, where she  indulges her passion (obsession) for screen printing textiles, sewing and her love for making beautiful handmade items. She believes there is nothing better than handmade and to "do a bit” creatively… everyday makes her one very happy lady!

"I love the rustic and slight imperfections that Gocco printing achieves, it's such a fun and inspiring way to print!"

Emma Simmons (Emmajane illustration, NSW) is an illustrator and graphic designer. As a compulsive collector of shapes, textures, patterns and fabrics, she has a huge source of inspiration to draw from, but she needs a bigger cupboard. Much of her work is collage based, she relishes getting away from the computer and doing things by hand. Interests and influences include: Art Deco, Nouveau, Monet, block printing, Poster art from the 20's through to the 50's.

"Gocco is an fun way to create on a small scale. It's a self contained mini form of screen printing, that will fit on your kitchen table. You can get some great and surprising effects by manipulating your paint colours and density." 

Ghost Patrol Works and lives in Melbourne Australia. A self taught artist, Ghostpatrol has moved from the field of stencil art to exhibit his drawing based creations worldwide. He currently resides in Melbourne at his ‘Mitten Fortress’ studio. His work ranges form fine ink drawing, street-art, commissioned murals and soft sculpture.

Ghostpatrol creates worlds. His ongoing exploration of hybrid animals and forests travels across mediums; from pasted posters to soft sculpture, watercolours and printmaking. His work often references childhood nostalgia and pop culture, with often quite sinister and playful undertones. From beginnings in stencil and street art, his current practice focuses on ambitious installation and painting projects.

John D-C (NSW) is a Graphic Artist and his creative projects are heavily influenced by his  many interests and hobbies. These usually include a healthy combination of Brick-A-Brack, Screen Printing, Rock & Roll Dancing, Blues Piano, Velvet Dinner Jackets, Art Deco Theatres, Record Shopping, The Creations Of Jim Henson, Ten Pin Bowling, The Hohner Harmonica, 1979 Bedford Short Wheel Based Vans, Print Gocco, Vintage Comic Books, White Elephant Stalls, Animation, Drive-in Movies and Cuba. 

"I first became aware of the Gocco via the failed Save Gocco campaign, and It was love at first sight. I couldn't believe such a wonderfully amazing machine actually existed and had existed since the 1970's in Japan. Gocco has quickly become my favorite creative medium and I tend to plan most of my illustrations around its low-fi idiosyncrasies. I love gocco prints, they are instantly recognisable and I feel that they have a beautiful old world charm about them, which is impossible to re-create in photoshop." 

Magic Jelly is South Australian artist and illustrator Karena Colquhoun. Both nostalgic and modern, her work mixes collage, printmaking, pencil and paint, with good old-fashioned digital technique. You will find her most days in her small home studio, listening to vintage radio plays and bebop, whilst playing with paper and ink.

"Those intriguing little ads in the back of comic books were an early obsession (I really wanted one of those coffin-shaped money boxes where a skeletal hand raked in your 10c pieces!). I loved the way ink & paper interacted - the way the ink bled & mingled with the cheap pulpy paper, the off-registration, the halftones - & that love of print stayed with me into adulthood, & made its way into my digital artwork, where I enjoy emulating print effects & textures. When I first set eyes on the Print Gocco in 2005 I couldn't believe that such a fantastic contraption actually existed - I couldn't wait to get my hands on one! I ended up buying four different models, my favourite being the classic light blue B6.

I love the fact that the Gocco was originally sold as a toy & has been appropriated by artists (like me) who love its low-tech charm. I love the fact that it makes small format prints & captures such fine detail. I love the unique quality of the prints themselves, kind of a cross between a screen print & a relief print. I love that fact that gocco is so accessible to anyone who wants to give printmaking a try - no need for a huge print shop (the kitchen table will do nicely!) or masses of cash. Most of all, I love the gocco's frustrating little idiosyncrasies that teach you to embrace imperfections as happy little accidents."




Meredith Walker-Harding is a part time puppeteer, tour organiser & ukelele player; full time tea drinker, pineapple enthusiast, crafter and sweet treat baker for Sprout & Bean catering.

Only a cute little japanese machine like the Gocco could turn my scratchy little sketch into a lovely, character-filled print! 



The Seven Seas is a multi disciplinary artist working with sculpture, illustration, installation and rap drawings. He spends the majority of his time cultivating his facial hair while watching cartoons and dreaming about expeditions through forests in far away lands in search of unknown creatures.

I hope Gocco will have a second wind and live a prosperous eternal life.