Proposal Abstract

In a way, printmaking is a technique to reproduce an image we see, in material or in our own minds. As the functionality and artistic quality desired are different in every print, a printmaker’s primary goal is only to create a look, or an illusion, not necessarily carrying every detail of the original image. With this goal in mind, the actual making of the illusion could evolve into plenty of possible methods, which, with certain alterations, could add layers of meaning onto the existing visible image.

In this group of work, I intend to deepen the relationship between the visible and the making of an image, by applying different imaging methods commonly used in modern screen printing, including CMYK separation and stencil exposure. Through indirect processes, the prints speak for the physical reality in which I work, in a language of flattened forms. Repetition and lengthened processes add layers of physicality to the apparently abstract or arbitrary appearance of an image.

Being doubtful of conscious messages within artworks, I am interested in implicit analogies of printmaking techniques embedded in images. Therefore, my work often implies a sense of pictorial irony between what is seen and what has been done. The resulting image resembles a play between method, subject matter and their value, where a discussion could be in or outside the image. My prints engage the contemporary conversation of how a surface is defined not just by its contents but also by the actions that lead to it.