Why is the piece titled 'The Queen.' -
The title of the print refers to the Queen chess piece. The only piece which can move any which way is desired on the board. I had chosen to construe a piece relating to the Queen as, during my interview with John Bramblitt he had mentioned white cane orientation. White cane orientation is the tool of which the blind and visually impaired use to navigate the surrounding perimeter of which they walk. Bramblitt had described the process as frustrating and somewhat tedious but it is something he relies on heavily; even in the creation of his works. I find white cane orientation to be a powerful tool that should be celebrated, despite being visually impaired you and anyone else are welcome to go wherever you wish to go - as you should. The Queen typically connotes toward power and recognition, both attributes I hope the blind gain in the future through the art industry. Having discussed the white cane method with Bramblitt I had visualised a chess board, orientating the movement of the Queen, approaching each sector as a primitive decision, just as the blind navigate the world today.
The print portrays a woman looking ahead with an amicable expression adorning her face, a portion of the Queens crown sits to the left of her head. Her head has been misshapen as to observe an element of form as well as narrating a bold escapade of structurally sound lines and shapes. This particular piece had been designed using the influence of Junji Ito, following the use of obscure imagery, in a sense this piece and a few of my others convey a macabre-esc feel, not following death but the allegorical dance of losing ones sight and independency to then be shunned and replaced with a trans figurative metamorphosis of the body and mind.
Relief methods of printing such as linoprinting are essential in regards to the basis of my project. Providing a tactile platform in which a visually impaired audience can navigate is of great importance, alongside exhibiting works which display vivid colour and bold, linear based illustrations, to be mounted and easily observed by those who have a visual ailment.
Prior to this project I had little experience in Lino printing and didn't especially enjoy the process as I found it tedious and hard to control. In the past I had gauged too much linoleum resulting in the plate to tear from excessive abrasions to the surface, as well as a confusion as to what I was printing and having to recall what sector I should refrain from carving and such. Fortunately I began designing my work over paper rather than straight over the linoleum, allowing room for error. Upon designing the print on paper, I then utilise the carbon print method in transferring my design to the linoleum. I have learnt that I should not mark areas of printing prior to the carbon application, due to chalk going all over the linoleum; instead I am to only transfer the line drawing over to the matrix. Luckily, chalk can be easily removed from linoleum so excess is not an issue. Once transferred I then mark up the areas that will be kept (black) and avoid the whites. Using smaller blades has worked tremendously in carving the linoleum as I have acquired a better sense of control both mentally and literally over the Lino. I find soft cut Lino, as the name implies to be easier to gauge into, but control is limited as the surface is more slippy and malleable. Though it requires warming, the harder Lino backed with hessian portrayed greater success as the hessian provides further assurance toward stability and mildly controls the malleable nature of the linoleum.
Displayed below are a series of a3 prints (a2 paper), given the time allocated within the department I could only print a select number of this particular print, due to the time it takes to clean up, equipment used and inking. This plate had became quite delicate as the vast majority of the subject was white, meaning a lot of the print was carved and gauged, resulting in a very malleable block. Fortunately this board was lined with hessian so there was a further layer of protection in regards to being stagnant during the inking and pressing process. I found the inking of this print to be quite difficult in conjuring the correct ratio of ink to roller. Despite there being a lot of ink on the board, due to the size of the composition and the background being sole linoleum, the ink would disperse moderately over the plate and leave small dried spaces where the ink had not quite reached the surface of the paper. I had attempted to combat this issue by using the press, each print would be put through 3-5 times, then I would peel back the adjacent corners to inspect the quality of the print. Unfortunately no matter the number of rolls, directions or ink I was having great difficulty in making this print perfect, I had moved on from the press to using the baren and my hands to aid the blotting of the ink, this did ail my print to some extent but as you can see in the first image of the gallery (the final print) there is a small white space within the top right hand corner of the crown and the bottom left of the overall print, located within the background.
Had I have considered using my finger to smudge the ink into those places I would've had a perfect rendition of the design; to my dismay I had not considered this until I started printing from home due to further restrictions being implemented. The reason as to why I could not print this piece from home was due to the size of the plate, the plate is a3 and the only roller I owned was a5 which would result in ink traveling toward the white gauges of the face... something of which had already became apparent in my time in the department. Fortunately I have ordered a 20cm roller which I may use to print this piece from home in the future, though further developments of this print will be used in the continuation of my work for James' module.
If I were to conduct another series of these prints, I would perhaps explore different coloured papers and surfaces to work on. I would especially like to see this print over some fabric to see how the fabric ink would react, and the new relationships that this piece can derive from being aboard varies surfaces, would these variables further emanate the message of the print or would the message be lost? All of these questions are what I intend to answer over the second course of the project. Finding new materials and techniques to employ within my body of work is certainly something I am looking into. I may perhaps work with mixing mediums to see if the ink would retract is some places and not in others, wherever variation can be conceived I am intrigued.
In regards to any benefits I have gained in commencing in exploring lino printing further, I have became a better printmaker in relief printing. I have always employed the intaglio processes opposed to relief, as I had thought in the past that detail could not be captured to its full potential within the relief process, however I am most definitely wrong. Though intaglio process allows me to draw each and every line that I wish to, I can still do the same through relief over a bolder altitude. As mentioned earlier I chose to explore relief methods of printing in order to provide a tactile format of display for a visually impaired and blind audience to interact with.
News print ink blotting is included within the gallery (4th print)
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