Category: Studio

After collecting my work from university yesterday, I scanned every single print, not all are displayed above, and I started to work out how I was going to arrange the prints when coming to a physical display and installation. I started by working out 6 2×3 grids, by jotting it down on paper very methodically, which meant each item was never in the same place twice, and then arrange the colours to make sure I didn’t have the same print twice. This was before creating a grid with photo frames in InDesign, to make sure each print in the grid was the same size. I then took my letterpress prints, and I experimented with positioning, to work out where they looked the best but also didn’t didn’t interfere with the methodical layout.

Now I have a guideline for installing them physically. Originally before lockdown I was going to install them in the IVM studios at LCC however now that is obviously impossible. Therefore I am going to install in my flat, just very simply with blue tack, so I don’t ruin the walls. Originally I thought this would be a disadvantage, and therefore was going to move all my furniture out the way to get clear walls. However now thinking about it in context with the subject matter, I believe doing it in my flat will actually enhance the installation. As my subject matter is about domestic abuse. Placing it in a domestic setting, taking an environment which is suppose to be safe and secure, and then making it feel overwhelmed by all these images I think could be highly successful.

With the I am inspired slightly by Tracey Emin’s, ‘My Bed’ by the fact I don’t want I tidy flat, I want it to seem lived in because otherwise there is no point doing it in this environment intentionally, because it would look like a show flat otherwise, and not an environment which feels domestic, and everything a home should be. I am going to experiment with the over the weekend, including which rooms to include, will it just be the living room. Because I think the bedroom would have interesting connotations.

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So today, I experimented. Explored, and now I am just pure confused. At first I just experimented with how pigmented the black was and how much extender I used, and seeing what made the red pop. But then I wanted to explore using the idea of pink as the background image, because domestic abuse is usually connected to feminity, and so is the colour pink. And I really like these images, however the contrast isn’t so great and also it loses the violence and the aggression.

Finally I printed it onto black paper. I only printed the one, as I only had the one sheet, however I have purchased some more to experiment with next week. The pink really shone and drew more attention to the background image, and the wool wasn’t as bright. Here I want to experiment with the opacity here. But also we discussed as it was a little more subtle, and how these situations of domestic abuse are sometimes hard to see not just for the outside world but when you are inside them yourself.

I really need to think about what I want to communicate with these images. Which aspects I want to focus on.

In this post I am going to be analysing and reacting to the feedback I gained from my 1-2-1 with Leigh and my group tutorial. And define my actions going forward regarding it.

Feedback given:

1. Is the red too transparent? Maybe mix some white into it to make it more opaque.
2. Composition. Maybe cut them all down so the images are centred in a square?
3. Liked the uneven inking of the string
4. Maybe use a different colour scheme in each one
5. Maybe use the string to create an image, such as smoke coming out the cigarette
6. Are all the photocopies clean and crisp enough?
7. Maybe introduce some highlights, maybe paint white over the top.
8. Maybe use collagraph, stick the wool onto a plate

Is the red too transparent? Maybe mix some white into it to make it more opaque.

Regarding this and the tone of the red in general, this is something I want to experiment with more, I think once I figure out the inking, it being more opaque won’t matter as much, however I will experiment and see what I think and my preferance, but also what works with the theme and concept as well. I believe the more graphic and bold it is the more it will relate and convey my message.

Composition. Maybe cut them all down so the images are centred in a square?

At the moment, I am going to stick with my guns as I can always cut the plates down at a latter date. I am going to print several of each image in it’s current composition and size, and then I will cut them down and see what I prefer.

Liked the uneven inking of the string

So did I, however what I do not like is the areas which are over inked and then give a smudged line and looses it definition, and need to work out how to get the right balance.

Maybe use a different colour scheme in each one

For my theme, idea and concept I do not agree with this. My concept behind this idea is that the red wool/string is the symbolism of control and power and I think the meaning will shift and what the images conveys will change if I change the colour (because of colour psychology)

Maybe use the string to create an image, such as smoke coming out of the cigarette

Again I don’t think this will convey with message. The wool being power and control, is supposed to dominate the image behind, in a way I want this disconnect. And I believe by making then two very seperate images interact in a way such as that would ruin what I am intended to achieve.

Are all the photocopies clean and crisp enough?

This came from viewing the first proofs of my cigarette and pain killers prints. And with first prints with these plate they come out a little dark and not the clearest. It was mentioned the pain killers packet didn’t seem clear, however I know from viewing the plate and the print in person, plus the positive, I know this is one of the clearest of my images. The cigarette packet isn’t the clearest. It is scrunched up, and as I wanted it to be photocopied like all the other images, it is hard to create a clear copy. However personally I like this, however I am going to see how all six look together and if it doesn’t fir because that one isn’t clear enough, I can always remake the plate.

Maybe introduce some highlights, maybe paint white over the top.

This one is difficult for me. I can’t introduce highlights into the plate when printing, because the plates are textured and therefore hold ink and therefore print tone. I could use a cotton bud and try and get a few highlights, however this could be challenge as my image is full of a lot of very fine dots, and I could easily wipe that ink away. Also I think I would of choose a zinc plate if I want to get white, I want this image to be static, like I am capturing a snapshot of time. I think the more contrast I add to the image the more it would take away to the wool control and overpowering the image.

The idea of painting highlights to me doesn’t make sense with this images, and the method of printing. Because this plate and the wool leaves an imprint, a deboss, the white would be the only this sticking out from the image, sitting on top, I think that would then take control of the image, but I could always paint on one of my proofs and see what I think.

Maybe use collagraph, stick the wool onto a plate

I understand the concept of this, and it would then create the same image on every single print, however because you would be gluing the wool down to harden it, I think the definition in the fluffiness would be lost, but also also the reason I am thinking against this is the same as why I decided to not go ahead with softground plates, because the freedom and how the way the wool can’t be controlled as it goes down, against the super prepared, controlled method of the photo-etchings really works with my theme and message, and I think this method would make for super static images.

To conclude, there is some I agree with, some I will consider and experiment with and some I will disregard. There was a comment about how string in some images work better in others, sometimes it is too much, and obscures the image underneath, which I kind of like with my theme, however I understand the audience needs to be able to see the image underneath. This just requires me to keep printing and printing a lot of each to discover the most successful ones. I like the movement of the freedom of just using the string gives.

In relation to the idea of changing the colour scheme, and creating images with the wool, I don’t think the person understood or was thinking about the theme in my work, because those ideas don’t fit with it, and I think that is on me for not communicating my work correctly and as I am now on realisation, they might be just regarding it for an image in its own right and disregarding the message and the theme and just thinking about how it works as an image.

For now I think I need to keep printing, and see all 6 together, and not just first proofs, and see how they relate and work together, and see how they communicate the message. Then I am going to cut down the plates and see how they looked just centred in a square. But also I have an idea relating to this because at the moment all these images are 18cmx25cm (plate size) A4 total size approx. I might print these, and make plates where they are to scale of the actual objects and just cut down to crop maybe, so they are all different sizes. Also a part of me just wants to go huge and print giant keys.

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I still haven’t perfected the inking of the wool. So far for my experimentation, I believe the best thing to do would be to ink it heavily, as it is difficult to evenly ink lightly. Then run it through the press a few times to get off the excess. Today I made the next 2 plates, but only had time to proof them once, and the first proof/print of photo-etching plates are like pancakes, not great, but they looked good, but slightly on the dark side.

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The four proofs so far.

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I have taken two of the proofs, and cut them down to each have a different size border, the first 2.8cm and the second 3.7cm. I prefer the second, with the wider border. It has more breathing room, where as the first seems a little cramped and tight.

Through 3 sessions in Intaglio, I have managed to go through the process of photo-etching and throughout the process I made several decisions in hope to get the best out of the image and idea.

The first decision was choosing between zinc and steel. I choose the later. For several reasons, one being price, Steel is very cheap at only a couple of pounds a plate. However also because of it’s texture it holds a background tone, and I thought as I want the background images to be as static as possible, this would help achieve this look.

The next decision was how am I going to achieve tone in the plate/image. I had three choices, either bitmap in the form of a half tone screen, a diff dither, or by threshold. We printed each option out in the correct scale and also had a second option within diff dither with an even finer dither, but in the end I choose the bitmap by half tone screen. This is because the image was the most static, and that matched again with the theme and concept of the work.

Next, in the first session I filed the plates and degreased. I couldn’t continue the process due to the fact the photo-sensitive emulsion takes an hour to cure, and then expires/deactivates in 24 hours and I wasn’t coming back for a couple of days, so we left it at preparing the plates. We only started with two of my images, because after seeing the proofs and the outcome I might not actually like the outcome, however we didn’t just want to rely on one image for me to make the decision from.

In my next 3 hour session, I coated the plates, I then waited an hour for them to cure. I then waited half an hour while they cooled down. I then exposed the plates and developed them in a soda crystal solution. Before drying them, and stopping the backs but also the fronts out where the large area of the image wasn’t to make sure they wouldn’t accidentally etch.

The next day, today, we made the decision not to aquatint the plates, because they are steel they are more likely to hold the tone anyway and not open bite. But also if we aquatinted we might of accidently disrupted the pattern of the fine dots. So we decided to first try with one plate. We chose the coat hanger, because it was the simpler of the two images.

We initially etched for 9 minutes before looking at the etch under a lens, specifically where the blue emulsion, to see whether it was etched enough but also to make sure we weren’t etching the detail away. We then etched for another minute, before checking again, and then I made the choice to etch it for another minute and a half, and we checked again and we were starting to see the edges of the blue emulsion etch away and then it was time to stop, and begin the pain-staking task of cleaning off the stop out varnish and the emulsion.

After this we proofed this plate, made sure everything was okay before repeating the process with the other plate, and printing a proof of that plate. With the proofs I only inked the area of the image, as it wasn’t essential to ink the rest, one to not waste ink or time.

After lunch, I begun to cut my plates down to size of 25cmx18cm. This size was chosen when editing my photocopies as I printed the images off at A5 and A4 and the first seemed too small and the second too large. So I settled in the middle. I used the metal guillotine, a machine which terrifies me, as I am scared of ruining my plates, and I have avoided using it for two years. Today I overcame that fear and cut one of my plates down with no mistake.

I then inked the images up again to take proofs of them with the red thread, we tried two techniques, one placing the inked up wool on top of the plate, and the other printing the image, then passing it through the press again with just the wool. I choose the first option to continue with as it was more graphic vibrant and took control over the image which relates again to my topic and theme.

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These prints are not perfect. The wool isn’t evenly inked. Which I don’t mind the underinked parts but I do the over inked parts. So when I print them properly next week, I am going to ink up slightly heavier and then run them through the press on their own, to get off the excess ink, and after experimenting with the technique on Wednesday I have learned to spot the print before it has the perfect inking level.

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Originally I was thinking about to make every print in an edition the same, and pressing wool into a soft ground plate, however after experimenting with inking up wool and printing it directly onto paper I decided this was a better way to go.

This is because I have very static images, which will be in the form of photo etchings and this is more free and has movement, which relates to my topic, as the static objects represent me, or the abused and the string represent the oppressor and abuser, they have choice, they do what they like.

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This is just going to be quick post, just to update on the still lives, I have been preparing ready to print. I have decided to keep it simple and just photocopy everything.

So far I have scanned:

1. A packet of cigarettes – reasons mentioned in a previous post
2. Coat Hanger – Control over clothes
3. A necklace – I used to wear this necklace every day, it has charms on it representing different parts of myself, for instance a paint palette, and a chefs hat, this is to generally represent control over me as a person, and who I am
4. Painkillers Packet – The idea of pain, and control over how one feels
5. Wallet – Financial Control
6. Keys – Control over what one does and where they go.

With the idea that your work will communicate to a specific audience,
what questions are you asking that audience?

I am asking them to emote. To think about the topic, and how it would feel in that scenario. To ask them has any moment of their lives have they felt powerless and controlled, and taking that and magnifying that feeling.

Who is your audience?

My audience is the general public, the everyday person. It is hard to narrow down because it is work which should and could been seen by anyone. It is for the public domain.

When the work is seen on its own, and you are not there to back it up,
what do you want people to think about when they look at your work?

I think titling and naming my pieces will be important, especially as I have moved away from a more literal approach, and continuing to experiment with the idea of the red thread/wool being a symbol and metaphor for power and control.

I want the images to make people think and reivaluate their own ideas of domestic abuse. I when then to see something, a memory in themselves, where to can feel, even a snippet of what it is like to be in a relationship, abusive, toxic and manipulative.

I don’t wish to spell it out for them so clearly that the problem is just own and they are just viewer watching in. But also thinking about this mask these relationships have, and how they are nearly never outwardly projecting what they are actually like. I want them to have snippet into the world of an abusive relationship.

How will people benefit from your work?

I am wanting to raise awareness for an issue which has become such a crisis, even before Covid, but it has gotten worse and made it more visible. But statistics and even the news reports we have received through-out the pandemic, doesn’t make people view it as their problem to fight. However I wish for my work to emote with the viewer and link the issue the feelings and emotion behind it, and what people experience during these traumatic experiences. Maybe wanting to promote donations to Women’s violence charities, but also make survivors know and feel like they are not alone.

In a dream scenario, how would you like to financially benefit from
this work? For example, would you like a gallery to sell it?
A publication house to market it? An advertising agency to
commission you? An illustration agency to represent you? You choose.

I would love my work to be able to be exhibited in galleries, not just to sell but obviously that is always helpful and would be the dream scenario, but also for exposure, but not for myself but issue I am trying to be an activist against, and raise awareness for.

But also creating work for charities to promote donations.