April
Printing etchings
I inked and printed my three 3 foot steel etched plates, these were challenging to print at home not only do I not have the space but not having a hot plate means i'm using a lot of ink for each print and I was hoping the inks would last me throughout the isolation period.
These plates were also challenging because they had been etched several times, first was the spite bite then the etch eventually this ate into areas of the thin layer of hard ground, so I don’t have as much variation in tone as I had wanted but I do like the texture the plates have. I also didn’t have paper at home long enough so I printed each plate in two sections.
I’m having to adapt the way I’m working, knowing that eventually I will be able to print these plates the way I want.
Above images Steel etching plate and etching prints
Creating Sculpture
I then inked all three steel plates again and sealed the sides and filled it with fibrocem, this whole process was a race against the clock, I had to ink the plates before they all dried, make the mould and mix several batches of fibrocem, unfortunately I ran out three quarters of the way up my mould but I have to work with the materials I have.
I left this to set for two days probably way over cautious but I didn’t want it to crack at the corners, I also wanted the steel to rust and seep into the sculpture but this did not happen as much as I thought it would, I’m wondering if the oil based ink is preventing the steel from rusting as much as normal?
The image has little clarity and depicts how I view architecture, with blurred lines and no clear definition.
Above image etched Fibrocem sculpture
I’m going to do a second one and use water based inks and plaster and see if the plates will rust. I also know that etching into plaster always gets better results than fibrocem, this could be down to the plaster been much finer.
Print installation
Today Ive been working out how to display my tex prints I had wanted them to be on a large white wall but I do not have one at home and all my exterior walls have pipes running down them, so I’ve had to rethink how I was going to display this.
I’ve attached all the negative tex together, some are folded, crumpled depicting the impact of a life time of negative attitudes that disabled people like myself live with and the negative affect this can have, I’ve repeated the same words because we experience these words and feelings repeatedly throughout our lives.
Image above full length Cascading words Sillk screen print
Above images close up of cascading words print instalation
I’ve hung it from the ceiling, it runs down the wall and piles on the floor.
Photographs did not capture the height of this piece, because I was unable to stand far enough away, so I made two videos one version has no sound and the other you can hear me saying all the negative words as well as seeing them, I found the video captured the sense of height much better then the photographs.
I printed the same text on tissue paper, I waited for a windy day and hung the negative tex on my washing line, using broken pegs (some disabled individuals told me they felt like broken inanimate objects) so the broken but still strong pegs, represent how broken these individuals physically feel but are mentally strong.
Above images silk screened on Tissue paper
I videoed the dance of the negative words!
There was something elegant about the way the tissue paper moved in the wind and a sense of freedom from all the negative stereotypes
Especially during a time of survival of the fittest, that is making disabled people feel incredibly vulnerable and worthless.
When it was really windy it seemed like the art work was full of anger and rage and when it was a gentle breeze it went back to being an elegant dance.
I also filmed it in slow motion and this changed the whole feeling, I felt I was watching something beautiful and peaceful.
I expected the tissue paper to disintegrate quickly but I filmed these in varies locations in my garden throughout the week. There is one film where Ive filmed them from beneath so all you see is the text prints and the sky and because they are so crumpled they reminded me of clouds and when the wind picked up they looked like kites, once again a sense of freedom from all the negativity.
But when I hung it in the tree it took on a completely different feeling, the prints looked like the discarded rubbish and dog mess in bags you see in hedges in the countryside, this fit really well with the text that was on the prints, discarded, shit etc and how disabled people spend so much of their lives being discarded or treated like shit.
I then decided to use my one hours exercise a day and take my camera, Tripod and Silk screened words with me and install them in different locations, some people thought I was raising awarness others made comments that it reminded them of shit in a tree.
Once again the locations transformed the prints and the sounds of the locations also became important,
I have selected a series of videos and joined them together using Rush soft wear
If I was at university I would install these videos and project them onto a wall so that people get the sense of scale of the enviroment and they can read the words on the prints.
Perspex Sculpture
I tried several ways of creating a base for my perspex portrait, once photographed I liked the plaster base its clean lines worked well with the lines of the perspex but by using the Cherry wood I was combing a material that I find astecticlly pleasing with one that hindercs me.
this piece for me brings all my concepts together, Disability and architectural materials.
Moving forward I would like to experiment further with shadows and sound recordings.
Increasing the scale of my sculpture
once again this was a race against the clock inking up my plates, mixing the plaster and sealing my mould, the mould took far more plaster than I had antcipated but I did have enough this time, I left it to dry for two days, I am happy with the results there is lots of intresting detail, the mould rusted and this has transfered to the sculpture, I would howevr like to increase the scale once univsity re opens.
Some of the Artist I've looked at
Antony Caro rusty sculptures and Perspex works
Rachel whiteread Untitled stair case
Gerhard Richter
Mary Martin Perspex group 1963 sculpture made of sheets of Perspex
Alexia Tala Chilean Printmaker
Edward Ruscha