Explore the potential of paper as a practical, financial and conceptual decision for artists in the publishing process.

Choosing paper is an essential part of any in-print publishing endeavour. In artist publishing, paper shapes how work is translated to the printed media, felt, and handled. Paper also carries meaning, materially, conceptually and environmentally.

This two-hour workshop offers participants a deeper understanding of how paper choices can support, challenge, deceive or joyfully enhance their work.

Through discussion and hands-on examples, participants will explore different types of paper used in artist books, zines, and photography publications, considering texture, weight, colour, opacity, durability, availability, and a publication’s possible post-consumer life, which might be as radical as compostable titles.

This new workshop will also address practical concerns such as cost, sustainability, sourcing, print compatibility and how paper choices shift meaning across editions, collaborations and self-published projects.

Drawing on first-hand experience from artist-led publishing, the session will encourage participants to see paper not simply as a printing surface, but as an active collaborator in the publishing process.

This workshop is suitable for artists and writers at all stages who want to make more intentional, informed and playful decisions about materials when preparing work for publication. Participants are encouraged to bring questions, works-in-progress or ideas they are developing.

Originally conceptualised as an optional add-on ‘module’ to the course Creatives in Publishing: Binding a Path to Being Published and Self-Publishing led by Johanna Tagada Hoffbeck, the workshop welcomes previous participants of the course, as well as those who specifically wish to gain guidance and confidence in this area.

The Artist Images

The Artist

Johanna Tagada Hoffbeck (b. 1990, France) is a transdisciplinary artist based in rural Oxfordshire. Her practice, rooted in ecological awareness, spans painting, sculpture, photography, publishing, horticulture, and participatory projects.

Johanna founded the independent, artist-led imprint Poetic Pastel Press in 2015, perhaps best known for its printed publication series Journal du Thé: Contemporary Tea Culture, which she co-founded in 2018. The deep ecology movement influences the imprint, with works printed in England using vegetable-based inks and distributed in over thirty countries. Poetic Pastel Press has participated in notable international book fairs, including Offprint in London and the Tokyo Art Book Fair. Johanna has also led and participated in talks on artists in publishing at venues such as BOAN Books in Seoul.

International imprints, including InOtherWords (UK), Chose Commune (FR), Nieves (CH), Hat Press (UK), Jane & Jeremy (UK), Editions Ulmer (FR), Ao-hata (JP), and Tombolo Presses (FR), have released publications on her practice. Her latest photography book, Please Take Your Shoes Off and Come In, has been edited and published by Pon Ding (TW).

Johanna’s work expresses care and tenderness, reflecting on the fragility and beauty of life. Recent solo exhibitions include Dreaming About Tomorrow at Nidi Gallery, Tokyo (2022). Group exhibitions include Soil at Somerset House, London (2025), The Equal Right to Live and Blossom at Kate MacGarry, London (2024), One Foot in the Sky at Contemporary Sculpture Fulmer, UK (2023), and Edge Effects at Whitechapel Gallery, London (2024).

In addition, Johanna founded the collaborative initiative The Gardening Drawing Club. She has organised and facilitated workshops and learning programs for adults and children at multiple British art institutions, including Camden Art Centre.