Etching + Acid + Japanese Papers

 Printed on Hahnemuhle paper. This paper was too heavy for the image and the colors were too explicit for what I wanted to achieve. The lines were too strong also. I do like the blurring and merging of tone so this will be a useful experiment for future work. I have decided to keep the plate one color and just use aquatint only to create imagery.

 I have set up the Nitric Acid at home. I can use it safely outside and move my work along and a faster pace than one workshop day a week ! I have gloves, mask and goggles for added safety

 This plate is processing outside. The acid strength was topped up and working nicely. I feel more confident to do 'spit bite' and mix up stronger acid. Brian ( the technician ) said, ' Never give acid a drink'. This is such a good thing to remember as acid will blow up and react if you DO add water to it!

 The processed plate after several immersions in the acid.

 Plate inked and polished ready for printing. Decided to use grey shades and alot of white.

 The outcome of the second print. I increased the density of color and tone to get more of a sense of drama into the imagery. The edges are torn and generally this image with its textures and divisions worked relatively well.

Experimented further with a second plate over the top allowed me to incorporate the circles as a flat representation of the sphere. I am especially enjoying printing on Japanese paper. It represents the imagery well and allows for fragility and textures to emerge.

Alice Anderson: Childhood Rituals - Freud Museum

Approaching the house you can already get a sense of what is to come. The red hair ties up the house like a giant web - twisted and taught it gives the house a sense of foreboding and tension. This work is called Housebound. I really like the name as well - it adds to the tension of the work very successfully.
Inside on the ground floor there are several installations of objects : a doll covered completely with red hair and mixed media. Around the room a several small human shapes bound tightly into compact shapes. A Film is running on a loop and the hands are working the thread tightly around the finger it is pulling on a paper butterfly below which appears to flutter to life. Eventually the winding of the thread cuts off the blood flow and the finger turns purple. The thread is unwound.
We all remember this 'ritual' as a child. The fear associated with not being able to get the thread off.

Anderson explores the relationship of fairytales and rituals used as a child. She also plays with the mother daughter connection.
Andersons work appears both magical on one level and threatening/unsettled on the other. The work she produces always stays with me for along time. She plays in this space of ambiguity and the whole experience leaves you wanting more. The attention to detail is what I appreciate. The hair in the installations always seems to thread through the buildings. I looked behind a shelf to see where the hair went, it always appears to go through the wall. As I looked I could see pieces of plaster and paint sprinkled in the corner making it seem real - not pretend.

Embossing - Found Objects

 Pins have been a revelation within my work. They transcribe the thorns I used previously. Using them as the imagery for embossing circles has allowed for stimulating new ideas.

a found paper bag adds texture to the circle and plays with the ambiguity of the imagery

This embedment made of concrete holds the lint of my family clothing  -  making a extension and reflection on the book written by John Styles, 'Threads of Feeling' which spoke about the connection of the mother + child through the fabrics left behind as Identifiers. This lint must hold the DNA of my family.

Things Left Behind - Giving Meaning To My Collecting

found button box

staples left in a board outside Intaglio print supplies

skateboard remnants - London

 

skulls + bones

 objects collected from a recent family house clearing