Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
Maybe it's because I don't actually have to leave the house to get to work, my studio is on the lower ground floor here, but I have to say, despite the cold, that I quite like this time of year. It's a good time to get back into the studio, with relatively few distractions, and get on with making some new work. So on balance, Brexit aside, I'm looking forward to 2019, I think it's going to be good!
I was visiting Ripe Digital recently, a superb short run commercial digital printer based locally in Corsham, where Bath School of Art have some of their studio space, and Howard Hodgkin used to teach. Rik at Ripe Digital introduced me to their new digital foiling machine. In essence this is a short run, or one off, opportunity to apply metallic foils to my print work. A process that previously demanded bespoke metal dies and long print runs to be even vaguely affordable. It's an idea /process that I hope will continue on from where recent Klint / cut piece left off.
So I'm experimenting with the idea of making a pair of foil based works for the club, in which several, perhaps four, coloured foils will be used to create two new works, probably with some inked areas too. Maybe ish 12 inches square each. Not sure yet, but will keep you posted as the work progresses.
I'm attaching an image of the foil colour card here, so you can get some sense of the kind of possibilities there are, although of course these colours only really come alive when you see them in the flesh, with light flickering across the surface.
Below are some images of the origami model I originally made to understand / generate the digital drawings for the series...
The basis for the new image will be a third iteration of my Stellify geometry, redrawn for 2019. The geometry is derived from a hugely complex origami model that I built over a long afternoon with my oldest son. In fact I don't think I could've built it without his help, his sharp maths brain is able to see around corners that I struggle with! The base model is derived from the fourteenth stellation of an icosahedron, created in a 'woven' form that uses five colours and sixty modular components, arranged in such a way that the five colours never touch each other. The basic form effectively encompasses a dodecahedral core set within the larger icosahedral outer, and then truncates all the points, hence the stellation.
I've been looking at Eduardo Chillida's masterful, dramatic prints and sculptures for well over a decade now, and hope that I may be able to combine some of his bravura making with this geometry, to create something with real weight on the paper, probably using quite flattened tonal areas with some overprinted line work. I like the idea that the planar surfaces of the Stellify geometry may be able to embody some sense of weight, or mass. We'll see...
This image is of his extraordinary sculpture in San Sebastian - The Comb of the Wind. It's an absolutely amazing set of sculptural objects set into the rock at the far end of La Concha, and well worth a visit if you're in the area.
I'm attaching an image of the second Stellify study here too for comparison. Maybe the idea of aligning these two disparate elements only really works in my mind's eye! Time will tell.
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Coming up - The Other Art Fair, March 2019
I'm delighted to have been selected to exhibit my work at the Other Art Fair again this spring. This year's venue will be the old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, dates are set to be Thursday 14th to Sunday 17th March.
If you'd like a ticket for the opening night, or for any day during the run, please do ask, and I'll look forward to seeing you there. Link here for more information http://www.theotherartfair.com
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Thanks for reading this far! I'll look forward to sending you more images of work in progress in due course,
With best wishes for 2019 - Chuck
