Thirteenth International Conference on The Image

Abstract

As well-known sculptor, Charles Ray, grapples with retaining the “distinction of 3D [material] art in a world shaped by flat screens”, so do I. My approach is to create 3D from the digital print, then photograph this textural 3D visual and display it on a 2D plane, from a small phone screen to a projection on a building’s facade. I choose hands-on manipulation of 2D printouts, as opposed to 3D printing or VR, for epistemological and iconographic reasons. My studio’s work relies on the history of the knowledge and understanding of what has been formed by human hands. Hence, the real-world impacts of heat, pressure, stress, even piercing and scribing are used to redefine the image (printout) and become an intrinsic part of it. Interested in materiality and symbology, often that of religions, I study spiritual artifacts, languages and marks, using symbols and icons in exploring my hybridized image-making. After months of research and digital painting, I print an image on an atypical pliable substrate, such as polyester spun (non-woven) surface [Tyvek], or polypropylene [Yupo], which is then re-formed dimensionally through tool and hand. This manipulation (and its roots) is the basis of my presentation. Importantly, the sense of materiality will link the art to the earth and human labor, and in my recent work, to a person’s spiritual biography. The physical actions and symbology should coalesce within these methods, deepening the narrative sense of place, thought and touch in this visual imagery. I demonstrate technique and ideas.