This semester has seen my practice follow a lot of lines of enquiry, essentially to try and uncover what I want to pursue for a more resolved body of work. This has so far meant that a large volume of experimental pieces has been produced; mostly prints and small embossed pieces. With this in mind I want to expand this body of work further, and incorporating more elements into it so that it becomes more rounded. There are several new processes which I have only just scratched the surface of such as laser cutting. I really want to take this process further, firstly by making my own letterpress blocks that I can use both to print and emboss from. I would also like to see the potential possibilities of laser cutting layers that build up to create one solid 3D object. This would take a lot of planning but could prove to be really successful if it is thought through effectively. The sculptural theme continues with the idea of using a milling machine to create relief works. As it stands currently I feel that a lot of my work is relatively flat and I would love to pursue a way of working that crosses the boundaries between 2D and 3D. I would also like to incorporate this relief idea into the prints I am currently working on, to bring the image out from the flat surface that it sits on. This relief idea can also be stretched to my embossed pieces, which currently exist as small experiments. I would love to blow this idea up in scale and make really large embossed pieces that can either exist on their own or be incorporated with other processes, perhaps hanging a series of them in different lighting conditions could change how they are approached and perceived by the viewer. I have realised that I favour my work to be presented in a linear fashion (till roll, continuous line installation, the use of the printing roller), and so with these new embossed pieces I would like to expand further on the use of line in my work, combining line and the linear qualities of text.
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Looking back over my body of mono prints definitely helped refine the ideas for my screen print. I selected one of my roller prints on acetate and used this as a basis to work from. After editing a scanned version on Photoshop, an A2 sized image was made and exposed onto a screen. The prints were effective but were host to a number of problems. The original mono print that I used to create the exposed image spanned two different tones of ink, resulting in a two-toned image. When relayed onto the screen the darker panel on the left is too dark, the overlaid text is barely visible at all. There is also a clear line in the middle of the image from where two of the repeating images do not quite touch; drawing attention to the mistake with a dark line across the centre of the print. Also, for the purpose of testing the image, this print size is too small. What proved more successful however was the use of a smaller squeegee on the screen to create freehand prints. The process of pulling the paint through the screen by hand means that each one is full of imperfections, unexpected tonal ranges and ink spots. Each one is unique and picks up traces of the print made before. And after a number have been made, a full print of the whole screen reveals another distorted image, including traces of all the previous prints. I would like to continue with this way of working with the intention of making a series of these types of prints. After making the changes to the original image that I used I made a screen of double the size. I also made another image that consisted of just the letter forms that had been extracted from their background, to use as another layer over the top of the larger screen. The resulting printed image is much clearer, although I am still undecided if the darker panel on the right has now been lightened too much. What does help this is the extra layer of the letters printed over the top of the original ones which emphasises them against the background. I am also undecided about the composition. There is the possibility of splitting the image and turning it into a diptych, the two separate panels related but not touching- perhaps giving more room for each side of the image to breathe. Although these prints remain as works in progress there is lots of potential that can still be developed to eventually resolve them.
Since I have been working on my larger scale roller prints I have found it difficult to make progress, so I have gone through an editing and evaluation process to pick out the things that I believe have been successful so far with the prints, and where to go next. I am hoping that this process will help to refine my ideas for a large scale screen print. MULTIPLE LAYERS MAKE FOR A BUSIER IMAGE
LAYERING PAPER UNDERNEATH PRINT SO THAT OUTLINES SHOW THROUGH CUT OUT LETTERS TO GIVE OUTLINE UNDERNEATH PRINT TEXT ONE COLOUR AND BACKGROUND INK ANOTHER COLOUR TOO LINEAR? EXPAND BEYOND ONE LINE CORNERS. 90° ANGLES ENLARGE THIS! OCCUPY A WHOLE WALL USE ACETATE TO MAKE A SCREEN. PRINT MULTIPLE LAYERS TWO-TONE CONTRAST SINGLE LINE INTERGECTING MULTIPLE LAYERS SHAPES PICKED OUT BY ROLLER ON LETTERS- ABSTRACTS FORM The work of Idris Khan had been mentioned to me before by artist Hew Locke but it wasn’t until my trip to the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester that I have been able to see it in the flesh. Khan draws inspiration from history philosophy and theology, layering and manipulating images and texts to produce single outcomes. His layered ink stamp pieces span whole walls, with hundreds of individually stamped lines of text in several languages repeated over and over to create one shape that gives the impression of being on the borderline between two and three dimensions. He has also created similar pieces on sheets of glass that help to give this 3D appearance with the addition of shadows from the letters on the wall behind the work. This work is extremely relevant as I am in the process of trying to refine some layered text prints to then develop on a larger scale with the hope that it can create something as coherent as these stamp works. |
AuthorThird Year BA Hons Fine Art student studying at Falmouth University Archives
April 2017
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