I Like Myself, 2019

For Ellipsis Prints, artist Daisy Parris created two limited edition Risograph prints: I Like Myself and I Hate Myself.

Working with the Risograph process in a distinctly painterly way, Parris uses layered colour and tonal density to echo the saturated surfaces of their canvases. The prints retain the texture and immediacy of paint while compressing the image into a concentrated, graphic form.

In each composition, the artist places small handwritten declarations—either self-affirming or self-denigrating— which perch precariously on stacks of balancing rocks within familiar yet slightly uncanny interior spaces. The rocks suggest instability, a careful equilibrium that could shift at any moment. Together, the paired works stage an internal oscillation: confidence tipping into doubt, self-belief collapsing into self-critique.

“I like myself” and “I hate myself” recur throughout Daisy Parris’ wider practice, capturing the anxiety of living with contradictory impulses — the sense that composure is temporary, and that everything might unravel without warning.

In risograph printing, each colour is printed as a separate pass through a risograph machine — a stencil-based duplicator that presses organic soy inks into the paper. Risograph inks are naturally vibrant — they are renowned for their vivid colours and evident textures. The inks are transparent so layers build to create more colours. Slight shifts in registration and a soft grain make every impression subtly unique.

I Like Myself is printed on Olin natural white 170gsm, an uncoated, FSC-certified stock whose gentle warmth lets the colours glow. The edition is strictly limited to 100 and will never be reprinted. All prints were produced at the London Centre for Book Arts.