In this week's episode of Platemark (s3e38), host Ann Shafer talks with Jillian Ross, collaborative master printer and publisher with an eponymous imprint, Jillian Ross Print, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Ross returned to her native Saskatoon after many years in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she was the master printer at the David Krut Workshop (DKW) from 2003 to 2020.  There, she worked with over 100 South African and international artists, most notably William Kentridge. Ross and partner Brendan Copestake founded Jillian Ross Print in 2021 in Saskatoon, where they continue working on collaborative projects in South Africa as well as developing new relationships abroad.

Ross has collaborated with William Kentridge since 2006 on major, complicated, and multi-part print projects, including the Triumphs and Laments Woodcuts (2016–21), The Universal Archive (2011–15), The Noses (2006–10) at DKW, and the recently released Studio Life Gravures (2020–22) from Jillian Ross Print (co-published with DKW). Her collaboration with Kentridge continues.

Other recent projects include a partnerships with Latitudes Online, South African artists Cinthia Sifa Mulanga and Puleng Mongale, and the technical team at The University of Alberta in Canada. Ross recently realized an exhibition, William Kentridge: The Colander, at Griffin Art Projects in Vancouver, BC, with curator Lisa Baldissera, the Kentridge Studio, and David Krut Projects in Johannesburg.

Throughout her work, particularly in the publicly accessible open-studio format of DKW at Arts on Main in Johannesburg, Ross has promoted and enhanced artist, collector, and public knowledge of printmaking through mentorship, educational workshops, and knowledge sharing.