Continuing Sampling Processes using Different Paper Types to Disrupt

Use of Rolls of Recycled White Craft Paper and Brown Stationary Paper

Through undertaking considerable research on artists who use paper, card, and cardboard I was deeply influenced by contemporary artist Val Britton whose immersive collaged works on paper explore the dynamic of space. I was interested in shifting and changing how recycled printed paper was seen and related to. In attempting to do this I sought to disrupt its form and the space it inhabited to alter its overall configuration from 2D to 3D sculptural forms. For me I wanted to play with paper and its overall length to work with strips of recycled white craft paper and brown stationary paper through screen-printing processes. From using imagery centred upon water colour mark making I was keen to create dynamic marks on the paper to achieve a sense of motion from the movement of the print. Waste printing ink was used up to experiment with the paper and form. The colour palette centred around availability when in the studio so pink, pale green and light grey was used. A large squeegee was capitalised upon to make the most of the textural imagery. The recycled craft paper held up remarkedly well given the scale of printing ink applied with each pull. The paper seemed to bring out the detailing of the half tone imagery in dots throughout screen-printing. The scale of detailing was impressive in considering the textural qualities of the imagery which seemed to capture all aspects of the brushwork.

Irrespective of the degrees of pressure applied through use of different sizes of squeegee a complete printed image was realised and the craft paper held its integrity as it was a heavier weighted paper of a closer knit construction. With its super smooth surface quality the printing inks failed to run and remained as printed on the surface of the craft paper. The imagery was printed randomly in relation to the colour palette and layering effects with other colours to optimise the interplay of imagery. I liked the visual qualities of the print with the paper alongside the physical properties including the feel of the paper with printed ink on it. There was a sense of flow created through the length of the paper roll which suited the sculptural manipulation into 3D forms.

Using the small squeegee as a paint brush enabled a range of marks and effects to be made when screen-printing. Only elements of the watercolour mark making imagery from natural surface qualities was utilised when spreading and pushing the printing inks through the screens. Additional areas of interest were created through dynamically playing with the printing inks to ensure expressive prints and imprints were left on the white craft paper.

The natural flow was continually disrupted with the interjection of the water colour mark making and the addition of the painterly expressive outbursts of colour from the pressure applied to the small squeegee as it was drawn across the exposed imagery on the screen. From reflecting on some of the detailed sections of the printed configurations it was interesting to see how many specific areas worked well in their own right as well as working as a cohesive whole. The rapid brush marks contrasted with the water colour marks. In considering the use of different sized squeegees throughout this screen-printing process it felt more akin to painting with different sized paint brushes. I enjoyed this sense of freedom with the less restricted application of printing inks, of selecting different areas of the exposed imagery and blank screens to print.

Through reflecting upon the range of imagery created along the two six metre rolls of white craft paper I thought such squeegee techiques and use of mixed imagery worked well. I liked the paper’s capacity to be sculpted from 2D to 3D to be viewed from different perspectives. I started to increasingly review options for such work, of the possibility to view Disrupt as a series of installations to see recycling materials and processes as something altogether different. That ultimately something deemed as waste can be used successfully to create unique imagery with an environmental message to disrupt the flow of unnecessary waste to landfill.

Continuing Sampling Processes using Different Paper Types to Disrupt

Use of Rolls of Recycled Brown Stationary Paper

From a range of research processes on artists who use paper, card, and cardboard I was deeply influenced by contemporary artist Val Britton and her use of recycled paper especially brown and repurposed types of paper. Her immersive collaged works on paper were deeply inspiring, stimulating, and influential including her exploration of space using such paper types. One of my favourite pieces of work by Val Britton was “ways to navigate through what we’ve built and what we’ve destroyed II” (2006-2008) using ink, pencil, charcoal, tape, collage, and cut-out paper. I liked the way the paper hung in the space as if draped, fractured, and broken. The series of images associated with this work and the feedback gleaned from my tutor encouraged me to increasingly experiment with a larger range of paper, card, and cardboard materials.   I continued to seek to disrupt its form and the space it inhabited to alter its overall configuration from 2D to 3D sculptural forms. As with the white crafted paper I used initially I wanted to play with the paper and its overall length to work with strips of recycled brown envelope paper through screen-printing processes.  From using imagery centred upon water colour mark making I was keen to create dynamic marks on the paper to achieve a sense of motion from the movement of the print. Waste printing ink was used up to experiment with the paper and form. The colour palette centred around availability when in the studio so pink, pale green and light grey was used. A large squeegee was capitalised upon to make the most of the textural imagery. The recycled stationary paper held up remarkedly well given the scale of printing ink applied with each pull like the white craft paper. The brown stationary paper offered a different relationship with the colour palette and imagery in use as it was more paired back and toned down. Despite this the textural qualities of the imagery were captured to highlight most aspects of the brushwork.

The brown stationary paper proved to be resilent despite the pressure exerted onto this paper type. Although I thought about deliberately ripping the paper to distort I preferred to disrupt through the space it inhabited beyond a flat 2D form. I liked the crispness of the paper and how it moved, flowed and developed natural contours from the screen-printing and drying processes. I appreciated how the different paper types responded differently to the screen-printing including the application of printing inks. The ripples created were utilised in the creation of 3D scultural forms…I relished the touch of the printed paper, of how the printed ink felt against the surface, of the undulations of the printed ink with different degrees of pressure which coinsided with the size of the squeegee used. I felt the scale of the strips worked well as six metre lengths enabled a lot of play to create different forms and to experiment with this concept of disruption.

Overall, I absolutely loved exploring the different paper types to investigate the inter-relationships with printing ink and screen-printing, of just how much of the inks interacted with the grain of the paper. I felt that I learned a lot from these screen-printing processes which I can carry forward onto other creative projects with similar and different materials. Ultimately I relished investigating this concept of disruption, to alter the flow of waste to the landfill sites to affect how people see and respond to waste.