Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristi Phillips
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I joined a zine meetup thinking that I was going to a screen print meetup. We all sat around a circle and started drawing an exquisite corpse as an icebreaker, and I assumed we would get around to the print part later. By the time I realized it wasn’t a screen print meetup, I had decided it was fun enough to come back for the next meeting anyway. The group went on to create a zine anthology as Triangle Printed Matter, and sold them at Zine Machine 2016, a fantastic zine, comics, and print event still put on by Bill Fick. I was encouraged by an artist I met there who does great screen prints, Matthew Tauch, to table for myself. In 2022, Trepet Books was born, a curated stand I would want to shop at, with juicy colored zines, poetry chapbooks, and artists from around the world. Playful and saucy, it currently resides at Super G, a screen print lab in Durham owned by Bill Fick- a bit full circle. Realizing I knew a lot of screen printers in the area, I decided we could have that meetup I originally thought I was going to, and thus started Triangle Screen Printers Guild. We’ve put on print jams, and are in the middle of planning studio visits. That same year, I reached out to the North Carolina Museum of Art and asked if they would be willing to bring an art book fair to Raleigh. The email went through the pipeline and came to rest at Andrew Wang’s feet. I had emailed the previous NCMA librarian, and he was just starting as the new one. The email I got back was worth the wait. Together, with a lot of the zine and print community I have had the privilege to meet over the years, we put on End Paper, NCMA Art Book Fair in September 2023. I would not have had the opportunities to move into each new phase without the myriad of creatives in the Triangle who are doing so many cool things. Trepet Books is more than a book stand or brand for me, it is an outlet for learning new things and making connections with people. Nowadays I’m working with my buddy, Charlie Ostrom, to bring back his riso printing, giclee printing, and zine making services at Goodtimes Press. End Paper is slated to return in 2025, so keep your eyes peeled. And, of course, come visit my book stand at Super G.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The positive outcomes have overshadowed the struggles along the way, but of course there have been some. Coordinating with people can be tough simply due to the constraints of language, timing, and experience. Planning things can look different with each individual you interact with based on how they interpret wording. No one will read and remember the first time you post details, you will have to post that same information three more times. Then they will email to ask you instead of reading it. I’ve ordered books, and they can get damaged in shipping. I have taken on print jobs, and the paper was out of stock. You just find another way. Ask someone for advice if you need it. We aren’t born with all the knowledge we will need in life, we have to seek it out. And stay thankful to people who give their time and energy to help you.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
On the book stand, you’ll see zines from artists like Jacqueline Valenzuela, a woman lowrider who paints the Chicana lowrider culture, poetry from Grace Kwan, issues of F, a biannual magazine published by Adam Marnie, The Wine Zine, a zine about natural wines, funny halloween photography by Jacob Haupt, and sketchbooks handmade and covered in art by Tedd Anderson, just to name a few. In the near future, I’ll also carry prints and zines I’ll be printing for artists with Goodtimes Press.
What matters most to you?
It seems surreal now, but I’ve gotten to evolve as a person using a brand I created for fun! I’ve connected to so many people through it, and for that, I’m deeply grateful.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trepet.books/
- Other: https://linktr.ee/trepetbooks
