Annie Bocel – Print & typographic punches

Bretagne – 1988

Annie Bocel is an artist-engraver. After obtaining a DMA in engraving from École Estienne, she continued her training in embossing and hot stamping with the engraver Jean-Luc Seigneur. In 2014, she received the Maître d’Art-Elèves title from the French Ministry of Culture, to learn the typographic punches know-how with Nelly Gable at the Imprimerie nationale.

In her workshop in Bretagne, she practices both typographic punches engraving and intaglio engraving. She creates prints for private individuals and punches for metalworkers and other craftsmen. Today, she is one of the last craftswomen to master this know-how.

Research and innovation

Annie Bocel’s approach is both artisanal and artistic. She masters the gestures of typographic punches engraving, intaglio engraving and embossing, all of which have the common aim of producing an imprint. This notion of impression is essential and evokes the idea of trace and memory.

Transmission

Annie Bocel believes in the value of transmission. Indeed, she taught intaglio in a Parisian workshop, and then at Créanog which is an embossing and hot stamping printer. Moreover, she has created and designed her book called Dessins de geste, gravure & poinçon typographique in January 2019. She also has given a number of talks to share her experience of engraving with talks she has taken part of in South Korea and at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne as part of the Matière à Savoir-Faire international symposium.

Fondation Rémy Cointreau has supported Annie Bocel in 2021 and has enabled her to acquire an intaglio press.