Screen prints, 2023 – 2026

Water,
in five
tempers

A series of twenty-five prints about the same element in five moods: still, stream, cascade, rapids and the wave that breaks everything. Two colours of ink and the white of the paper, pulled by hand.

See the series Ask about an edition
Screen print: a dark pine forest on two shores reflected in flat teal water under a coral sky.
Pl. 1Still, the north shore, 2024. Three-colour screen print on Somerset Satin, 76 × 43 cm. Edition of 30.

01 The series

One element, five moods

Each temper has five prints. They share a palette and a horizon line, so the series can hang as one long wall or split into pairs.

  • A coral sun sets into flat teal water beside stone steps.
    Pl. 2Still, sunrise, 2024. 50 × 50 cm.
  • A pale stream winds through green hills dotted with dark trees.
    Pl. 7Stream, late summer, 2024. 40 × 50 cm.
  • A blue river runs through a field of coral flowers between grey hills.
    Pl. 9Stream, the flower meadow, 2025. 60 × 40 cm.
  • A white waterfall drops in three tiers through a dark wooded gorge.
    Pl. 12Cascade, three steps, 2025. 40 × 50 cm.
  • A waterfall pours down a forested slope beside a towering cloud.
    Pl. 14Cascade, after rain, 2025. 60 × 40 cm.
  • A teal wave curls into white foam against a coral sky.
    Pl. 22Wave, the curl, 2026. 50 × 50 cm.
A long wall of teal water crests into thick white foam under a coral sky.
Pl. 25Wave, the long wall, 2026. Four-colour screen print, 120 × 67 cm, the largest in the series. Edition of 12.

02 Process

Two inks and the paper

Every print in the series uses the same two inks, a warm coral and a deep teal, mixed once at the start of the project and kept in sealed jars. A third pull of transparent base over the teal gives the darker water. Nothing is printed white: the foam and the highlights are the bare paper.

The screens are drawn by hand with litho crayon, which is why the edges of the waves break into grain. It also means no two editions are exactly alike. The first and last prints of a run are kept in the studio as a record.

A teal door stands open in coral water, its frame reflected below.
Pl. 4Still, the door, 2024. The only print in the series with a built thing in it.
Mist rises from a waterfall at the head of a narrow teal valley lined with dark forest.
Pl. 15Cascade, the narrow valley, 2025. 76 × 43 cm.

03 About

Ines Okafor

Printmaker, Providence. Trained as a hydrologist before she trained as an artist, which she says explains most of the work.

Editions
12 to 30 per print, signed and numbered
Paper
Somerset Satin, 300 gsm, cotton
Studio
Printed at Northlight Editions, Providence
Represented by
Hale & Morrow, Boston

04 Exhibitions

Where the series has hung

YearExhibitionVenue
2026Five Tempers, the complete seriesHale & Morrow, Boston
2025Cascade and RapidsThe Long Room, Providence
2024Still, first showingHarbour Print Fair, Newport

05 Contact

Ask about an edition

Most prints are still available. Write with the plate number and I will reply within a week.

Write to the studio