The physical world is built up in layers and at times, hierarchies. Things are deeper than we can see, and we fit ourselves, often unconsciously, into the hierarchies of the world. This is directly related to the hierarchical way in which we perceive certain materials and their uses within a human-constructed world. Wood has served humankind for centuries as a material needed to live: for warmth, shelter, tools, weapons, furniture, etc. It has been a staple to human survival. It is both simple and multi-layered. It belongs to the poor and the rich. It is prolific and illusive.
This series of prints creates the visual illusion of woodgrain. By using multiple materials to mimic the physical nature of wood, the definition of what is considered wood - in appearance, texture and actual material - is pushed in the multiple ways it is translated. Simultaneously, the overarching notion of where a printmaker’s 'print' begins and ends is equally complicated.
This artwork toys with the traditional notions of print and frame. In this work, the zinc plates (the tools for printmaking) are displayed as the work of art, while the frame is what has been created through a traditional print process. Likewise the three dimensional frames appear to be wood but are in reality a hollow paper-based replica of three dimensional pieces of wood. Does the digitally configured, hollow and inkjet printed frame fall lower on the hierarchy than a piece of wood? Does the vibrant, multi-coloured woodgrain print, produced through an extensively hands on CMYK printing process lose the layered nature of a physical woodgrain?
Occupying the centre of the display, the stark white print, framed and grounded, is the largest presented. There is a temptation to touch, to understand, to draw the viewer closer.
Ultimately we determine the value and the meaning. What is the tool and what is the artwork? What is the class and status of a replica versus an object? What is the image and what is the embellishment? The focus lies subtly between the two differences.
This series of prints creates the visual illusion of woodgrain. By using multiple materials to mimic the physical nature of wood, the definition of what is considered wood - in appearance, texture and actual material - is pushed in the multiple ways it is translated. Simultaneously, the overarching notion of where a printmaker’s 'print' begins and ends is equally complicated.
This artwork toys with the traditional notions of print and frame. In this work, the zinc plates (the tools for printmaking) are displayed as the work of art, while the frame is what has been created through a traditional print process. Likewise the three dimensional frames appear to be wood but are in reality a hollow paper-based replica of three dimensional pieces of wood. Does the digitally configured, hollow and inkjet printed frame fall lower on the hierarchy than a piece of wood? Does the vibrant, multi-coloured woodgrain print, produced through an extensively hands on CMYK printing process lose the layered nature of a physical woodgrain?
Occupying the centre of the display, the stark white print, framed and grounded, is the largest presented. There is a temptation to touch, to understand, to draw the viewer closer.
Ultimately we determine the value and the meaning. What is the tool and what is the artwork? What is the class and status of a replica versus an object? What is the image and what is the embellishment? The focus lies subtly between the two differences.
