Radial / TWO / helios helianthus / Second edition / Patreon Experimental Print Club

I've been wanting to try out the idea of using laser cutting to augment a print for a long time now. Not the kind of industrial laser cutting I use for my works on Perspex, but something altogether more delicate, more ephemeral, so I'm experimenting with the idea of integrating, or splicing together, 2 laser cut sheets of paper, one a C type print, the other foil.

To complement the concept behind Bloom, I've started work on this new piece, reinterpreting my Radial / TWO geometry as a work on paper, that will see it re coloured, laser cut, and interlaced with a sheet of gold foil. These two components will then be applied to a backing sheet of handmade paper, debossed, and will hopefully form an intriguing new study, that will radiate a little late season sunshine this Autumn. That's the plan anyway.

In part, it comes from the deep reds and fiery oranges of the Helianthus I've been growing in my garden over the past few years, and in part from a desire to catch a little of the warmth and sunshine we've been enjoying in France this summer, including visits to Giverny, Villandry and Fontevraud, amongst many other fabulous and inspiring places.

I'll look forward to posting some further images of the work in progress when I have them, especially of the laser cutting work, which to my mind still seems like science fiction. The idea that you can cut solid materials with light, line and light if you like, is astonishing.

Perhaps there's some interconnectivity between the power of the sun, the helianthus, and the laser light, a latent glow as the summer decays...