Transition
It is a project which explores the nature of memory. Memory is, at best, a reconstruction or reimagining.
I transition between video, etching and stop-motion animation.
Initially, I capture ephemeral moments and the transitions within everyday life which captivate me on video or taking photos. Then I lift individual frames from the gathered material removing the impression of continuity and sense of movement. In the now-static images, light pierces dark to illuminate something fleeting. I transfer these individual frames onto copper using historic photogravure techniques before reanimating them into a stop-motion sequence.
During the etching process, my feelings about the time depicted are infused into the imagery where they merge with the sensation of memory. Once an image is printed, I modify it again using traditional etching techniques. With every modification, the image is redefined. Transformation becomes never-ending. My aim here is to forge a dynamic time loop which mirrors the ever-changing nature of memory.
There are only 21 frames of images in each print. Visually, an animation formed from the 21 frames of one print appears disjointed, which conveys a sense of time which is at once both fragmented and timeless: full of gaps but a record nonetheless.
To my mind, this process plays with time and mirrors the fabrication of a memory. The resulting work references both the accuracy of documentation and the inaccuracy of memory; the speed of video and the slow labour of the etching process: digital and analogue.
Exhibition at UWE Bristol, September 2023
The Printing Process
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