UNIVERSE OF ODDITIES (CONSTELLATION)
Photo etching
297mm x 420mm
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when making this work I thought back to my previous work and how I tend to explore environments known but also unknown to myself.
Thinking about this I initially I about the train journey I take to commute, focusing on the idea of how we look outside but we are not really looking, it all becomes a blur to us, in reality we are unaware of what is truly there, only the names of each stop as they constantly play on the train monitor. Taking this early idea I then decided to look explore each of the stops themselves, learn what was there to be discovered at each of these locations, make a sense of them, documenting what I would find and recording my route along the way. Whilst recording my route I began to create my own map of each place, for when we journey to various locations we are always given a map and told of what is out there, but whilst exploring by your own means, you create your own mental map of that place, regular routes, pathways and sites, a mental map of the land you know. So with this I began to discover new worlds, one or more at each location, mapping each as I went along, creating my own mental universe, map of the worlds around me; but by documenting, recording I was able to create work to share these experiences, so that viewer could also be made aware of these worlds, but also how they relate to them.
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With my piece CONSTELLATION it focuses on the idea of discovering the world hidden around you and how even if we know of the same place we each have our own perception of it. With my maps generated from a gps tracker, I transformed an analogue to digital, then back to analogue. Looking into the idea of mental maps, turning them into constellations which themselves are used in navigation. So creating the maps, galaxies, which guide you hidden worlds. The idea of being prints themselves to transform what I made back to an analogue process; but also to give the image itself a texture, affirming it as something real and existing.
The work was finalised as a 16 photo etch series, displayed on light boxes. The aquatints were printed in 5 variations of black, each of a variation of just black, black with red and black with blue. For when you look up at the night sky, its almost always different depending on the time of year and where you are, its tone varies, for example in light polluted cities the night sky has a red hue to it, whereas the more clear have a blue hue; this linking more to the idea of constellations as only certain ones are seen at certain times of the year and places, so different tones of sky. So a different shade of colour to link to a different location.
The prints were displayed in order of the train stops and each one lit, to enhance its romantic qualities in relation to space, the idea of the poetic space universe, a hidden world in our world.
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Article: Universe of Oddities, One, Two
Exhibition: Parataxis
Exhibition: New Print Works
