Fear of Faith
My project explores the theme of a fractured memory over a prolonged period away from home, focussing on how the memories of my past life in the UK are difficult to discern. Using etching, monotype and screen-printing methods, my body of work will explore the nature of memory through my own subjective experience. In an increasingly globalised world, I aim to discover how time reforms memory connections and explore what abstract effects this has on materials while making.
In these works, I want to discover what memories resonate strongest and highlight how demanding it can be when removed from most of your family environment. The work of Jon Cattapan, specifically his night-vision series from his Australian War Memorial residency, is of interest to me as the over saturation and layering techniques of his works can be directly used in printmaking. The ghostly figures in these memories from Timor-Leste is something I have been working to test in previous relief ink etchings and is indicative of my project aims.
Another artist I’m taking inspiration from is the work of Peter Doig, who crafts dreamlike spaces that represent his personal experiences from moving between places so regularly across his life. Doig’s work is diaristic as a snapshot of contemporary existence, and something I wish to craft in my own prints.
Mark Bradford is an American multimedia artist, utilising found materials and endpapers/pins to craft monumental paintings with glue/string and sanders. This layering and collaging reflect the abstracted nature of the work, commenting on a specific time and place, with politically and socially charged intent. While my work is not a political commentary, it is indeed a social commentary on the effect of globalisation on a child’s growing brain.
Grayson Perry is another influential figure in this project, and while my work is not humorous or satirical like most of his practice, it does hold irony in its representation of an English/Australian identity. Grayson’s use of text and mapping is something I will incorporate in some capacity into my prints.