theresa easton — Printmaker & Lecturer in Fine Art, Newcastle University
Theresa Easton is a printmaker with deep roots in community art. Her practice uses printmaking as a lens to explore social history, often highlighting the lives and legacies of figures who resisted racial injustice.
Honouring Ida B. Wells
Theresa created a small edition of prints celebrating journalist and activist Ida B. Wells, informed by ongoing research with African Lives in Northern England. Printed at Incline Press in Oldham,the two-colour work combines hand-carved lino and letterpress to capture Wells’ energy and courage.
This exploration continued when Theresa was invited by Dr Angie Butler (Senior Research Fellow, UWE’s Centre for Print Research) to contribute to a Women Artist-Printers Portfolio Project on the theme of Allyship.
Exhibited at the Woolwich Print Fair 2025, Theresa developed a letterpress zine that revisits Wells’ relationship with Frederick Douglass, using their 1892 correspondence — reprinted from Wells’ Southern Horrors, L ynch Law in All Its Phases — as a foundation for questioning what allyship means today.
printmaking and contemporary activism
Theresa’s work also spans screenprint, letterpress and relief print, including pieces created for a group exhibition in Mexico City organised by Erika Servin with TACO Art: “Greetings from the Toon.”
Inspired by African Lives in Northern England’s heritage walks — which surface historic racism, challenge assumptions, and draw parallels with racism today — Theresa explored connections between the past and present. Her screenprints reflect on modern movements, from the 2020 Black Lives Matter uprising to the voices of young Palestinian and Iranian women speaking out at demonstrations in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Through this work, she celebrates the historic and ongoing role of print as a transformational tool in abolitionist and anti-racist movements. Printed matter empowered activists of the past — and continues to empower communities today. Knowledge is power.
