Scholarship – 2012: Printmaking (93309)

1. Scholarship – 2012:Printmaking (93309) Examples of Candidate Work

2. OUTSTANDING SCHOLARSHIP This print submission is exemplary in its manipulation and investigation into mark-making related to print processes. The proposition is led by an informed declaration to investigate the candidate’s “own fascination with marks and stains, found mostly on bench tops and floors”. This is then further contexualised through a stated obsession with documenting, cataloguing, and the archive. The candidate uses a “question and reason” approach. There is consideration of content relationships to print process and the central question, what is a print? The workbook systematically documents the thinking behind the practice. This is a sophisticated approach to research. There is a sense of authenticity in the selection of subject and starting points. There is immediate ownership and a strong decision-making strategy is established prior to any ‘actual’ making. From the outset the candidate presents their aesthetic eye, potentials and approach to practice with confidence. There is a real strength in media material quality and the candidate’s ability to translate media into image through a large range of processes and applications (dry point, etching, mono print, silkscreen, ghost prints, mylar, photography, light box, installation, hand-made books). The candidate seeks to uncover methods that aptly move in and out of ‘evidence’ and representation to develop a logical, cohesive and intellectually interesting body of work. They analyse what to use and what not to use according to conceptual relevance. Self-analysis is constantly creating criteria for ongoing direction, evaluation of ideas, and process. Research is catalogued as an artwork in its own right (as in the photo archive fold-out book on the folio). Links to established practice are vast and refer to disciplines outside of, though conceptually linked to, print. There is evidence of academic rigour not often seen at this level. Constant examination promotes pertinent questions and unpacking of ideas into visual outcomes. The candidate understands how the archive operates – that a stain, a mark is in some sense historical evidence. They never stop searching, seeing, looking for ways to formulate, process, understand seemingly accidental and potentially meaningless moments or acts. Within this project, these marks and residue are revered and made significant. Text and image merge together to become one in a form of organic abstraction. This candidate truly understands abstraction. They show maturity in their approach to drawing; they understand the concept of drawing, what it is and how they can use it to advantage their enquiry. This is demonstrated in the resourceful interplay between drawing and print - folio and workbook cooperate as a holistic package to uncover what is an exciting and conceptually rich print investigation.

15. SCHOLARSHIP This print submission explores the concept of memory, underpinned by an interest in time and place The candidate utilises family photographs as a starting point. Folio work involves a solid enquiry into the notion of ‘the generation’ of a family’s history through symbolic, image-based reference and devices. This submission draws much of its strength through a range of high-level skills and an experimental attitude from both a drawing and print perspective. This folio is well laid out, and this adds to the fluency and intuitive sensibility the work carries with it. Each image builds story pictorially and each sensitively unpacks potential narrative and meaning. A key factor of the conceptual framework is the ‘red string theory’ (destiny as the path of life). This is linked to the idea of fate creating relationships, here used as a metaphor for conceptualising the idea of memory. Red thread or string is used both as a media metaphor and as a compositional device to assert particular aspects (a frame, a join, an object’s shape). Stitch is used as line, a connecting mechanism and a translation device moving from two to three dimensions. Relationships are “threaded” together. This an innovative response, transitioning from pictorial image play to sewn printed fabric objects. The latter speaks of the power of objects to hold memory. Overall, the work employs elements of playful formal composition; in its entirety it reads as a box of interrelated photos and memories. A strength of this candidate’s investigation is the investment in media, surface qualities and collage. An element of risk is introduced in the vast use of imagery and related sources. At times they appear to merge, disappear or disintegrate. Cut-outs and framing of imagery collaborate to re-contextualise scenes and imagery. A wide range of options is employed in the production of work, for example the use of the photograph as integral component of the image making (represented and actual) and the use of textiles and fabric. Print is applied directly to fabric in ways that reference the subject of the photos (toys and clothing related to other times), which are then transformed into three-dimensions. The workbook documents a thorough process of research and resource gathering. Appropriate links to artist reference are evidenced and discussed. Documentation of ideas is clear, informative and contextualises the logic applied in the making of the folio. This is a well-considered project that fully engages in picture making with an obvious enjoyment for laterally extending the pictorial.