When people think of David Hockney as an innovator, they often jump straight to the iPad drawings, the multi-camera films, or the vast Yorkshire landscapes. Yet one of the most conceptually important bridges between Hockney the traditional printmaker and Hockney the technological pioneer sits in a deceptively modest body of work from 1986: the “Home Made Prints.” Created using an office photocopier, these works are not prints in the conventional sense of an image transferred from a plate or stone by a professional press. Instead, they are constructed—layer by layer—by Hockney himself, using the copier as both tool and collaborator. In doing so, he reframed what printmaking could be: immediate, experimental, intimate, and surprisingly painterly.
The series emerges at a pivotal moment in Hockney’s practice. The early to mid-1980s saw him intensely engaged with questions about how images are built and perceived. His photographic “joiners” had already fractured conventional perspective, assembling multiple views into composite images that felt closer to lived vision than to single-lens photography. The photocopier experiments follow naturally from this line of inquiry. Instead of asking what a camera sees, Hockney began asking what a copier could construct.
From Master Printmaker to One-Person Workshop
Hockney’s engagement with printmaking began early in his career and runs parallel to his painting. He treated etching, lithography, and screenprinting not as secondary practices but as equal fields of invention. By the 1980s, he had deep experience working in collaboration with master printers. Traditional printmaking, however, inevitably introduces a degree of mediation: plates are prepared, inks mixed, impressions pulled by specialists. Even when the artist is deeply involved, there is a structural distance between gesture and result.
The “Home Made Prints” collapse that distance. By turning to a standard office photocopier, Hockney eliminated the workshop intermediary. The machine became his private press. The act of making was no longer separated into preparation and production; it became continuous. Each layer was added, reconsidered, and transformed in real time.
Traditional prints typically begin with a stable matrix that yields multiple impressions. Hockney reversed this logic. Instead of producing multiples from a fixed source, he built the image through repeated copying and re-copying. Slight shifts in alignment, density, and scale became integral to the final composition. The process feels closer to painting—responsive, cumulative, and dependent on what came before.
The title “Home Made Prints” underscores this ethos. The phrase signals autonomy and directness. These works are not about technical polish or industrial perfection; they foreground the act of construction.
What Hockney Did with the Photocopier
At its simplest, a photocopier reproduces what is placed on its glass. Hockney used it instead as a device for building. He worked with cut paper shapes, drawn lines, fragments of color, and layered compositions that evolved with each pass through the machine. Each copying stage functioned like a separate plate in traditional printmaking. Line and color could be introduced incrementally. Forms could be repositioned, enlarged, intensified.
This approach reveals how deeply Hockney understood print structure. Years of working with color separations in lithography trained him to think analytically about layering. The photocopier allowed him to enact that thinking in a more fluid and experimental way. Rather than planning the entire image in advance, he could respond to each iteration.
Visually, the works often appear bold and graphic. The copier flattens space, and Hockney embraced that flatness. Crisp silhouettes and strong color contrasts dominate. There is frequently a productive tension between precision and imperfection: minor registration shifts create visual vibration and energy. Instead of hiding these traces, Hockney allowed them to remain visible, reinforcing the sense that the image has been assembled.
Position Within Hockney’s Oeuvre
The “Home Made Prints” sit comfortably within the larger arc of Hockney’s career. His practice has consistently revolved around perception—how we see, how images are constructed, how technology mediates vision. The photocopier series connects directly to his photographic collages of the early 1980s and anticipates his later embrace of digital tools.
Importantly, these works are not an abandonment of tradition. They are grounded in a sophisticated understanding of printmaking history. If anything, they demonstrate that tradition can be extended rather than rejected. The photocopier becomes another instrument in a lineage that stretches from etching presses to tablets.
They also reflect Hockney’s lifelong curiosity about contemporary tools. Rather than romanticizing old techniques, he has consistently asked what new technologies might offer. The “Home Made Prints” reveal an artist unafraid to test unconventional devices in pursuit of visual clarity.
Influences: Modernism, Collage, and Constructed Image
Although the medium is distinctly 1980s, the conceptual roots are earlier. There are clear affinities with modernist collage and with Henri Matisse’s cut-outs. Like Matisse, Hockney constructs images from colored shapes arranged dynamically across a surface. The emphasis is on assembly rather than illusion.
Cubism also resonates in the background. The idea that an image can be built from discrete components—each retaining its own identity—echoes early twentieth-century experimentation. Hockney translates that principle into a mechanical context. The photocopier replaces pasted newspaper; duplication replaces fragmentation.
At the same time, the works are deeply informed by printmaking discipline. Thinking in layers, anticipating interactions, and understanding tonal relationships all derive from Hockney’s long print history.
How to Collect David Hockney’s “Home Made Prints”
For collectors, the “Home Made Prints” occupy a fascinating position within Hockney’s print market. They represent a defined, historically significant moment—1986—and are widely recognized as an important experimental chapter within his broader print oeuvre.
First, rarity and dating matter. Because the series is concentrated in a specific period, it offers a contained entry point into Hockney’s mid-1980s experimentation. Works are typically editioned, and understanding the edition size, numbering, and any artist’s proofs is essential. As with all Hockney prints, condition is critical. Photocopier-produced works can be sensitive to light exposure and paper stability, so collectors should examine color retention and paper integrity carefully.
Second, provenance and documentation are key. Given the experimental nature of the series, confirming authenticity through reputable galleries, auction houses, or established secondary-market specialists is important. Hockney’s print catalogues raisonnés and foundation records provide useful reference points for verifying edition details.
Third, consider context within a broader Hockney collection. The “Home Made Prints” pair intellectually well with earlier etchings or later digital works. For collectors building a narrative-driven collection, they function as a conceptual hinge—bridging traditional and technological phases. Their historical importance can make them especially appealing for those interested in innovation rather than purely iconic imagery.
From a market perspective, Hockney’s print market has shown sustained international demand, particularly for works that represent defining moments or series. While pools and early etchings may command higher visibility, the “Home Made Prints” attract collectors who value experimentation and art-historical significance. Their relative rarity compared to larger print series can also contribute to long-term desirability.
Finally, scale and intimacy should be considered. These works often reward close viewing. For collectors who appreciate process-driven art, they offer something uniquely tactile: evidence of construction embedded in the surface.
Why They Continue to Matter
Today, artists routinely move between physical and digital processes—scanning, layering, printing, editing. In retrospect, the “Home Made Prints” feel remarkably prescient. Hockney demonstrated that contemporary tools could serve serious artistic inquiry long before digital art became normalized.
More importantly, the series encapsulates his philosophy of making. Technology is not a shortcut; it is a partner. The value of the work lies not in the prestige of the medium but in the intelligence of its use.
The “Home Made Prints” are therefore more than an experiment with a photocopier. They are a concentrated expression of Hockney’s lifelong investigation into perception, construction, and the evolving language of images. For scholars, they reveal a critical turning point. For collectors, they offer access to a pivotal and intellectually rich chapter in one of the most significant artistic careers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
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