12.11.20 - Embossing and Photocopying



The first thing I did was cut out a shape from some thin cardboard to be embossed into paper, and I decided to do quite an organic form of a spiral which was really useful because it created a second spiral from the negative space.



I wrapped one of them in masking tape to experiment with texture, creating something to contrast with the other smooth, flat shape. I embossed each one separately to begin with, and I like how the plain one has a sense of definition and purpose, and the way you can see the uniform lines of the corrugated card juxtaposed against the clearly hand-cut appearance of the swirling spiral shape.

The masking tape version was also successful because you can see a lot of the detail of the folds and creases which give it a strong sense of physicality and make me want to run my fingers around the spiral and feel the uneven surface. There are a few things in nature that the texture reminds me of: one of them is skin, and particularly that of large hairless animals such as elephants and rhinoceros which are totally awe-inspiring, ancient looking creatures; however the main thing it reminds me of is a fossil, not only because of the shape which could be interpreted as an abstraction of an ammonite, but the surface texture alluding to cracked and veiny rocks. 




I think something that makes nature so powerful is the way things follow mathematic ratios and geometric structures, for instance the Golden Ratio which we associate with the Fibonacci Sequence, and I have taken a photograph of an ammonite fossil that I found on a beach to compare. 


For my final embossed piece I layered both the spirals on top of each other and the result was quite interesting but I think I prefer the first two because less texture shows through as it becomes more compressed with each print. Also, the separate shapes are quite obscured and I decided it would have been more effective if I put them at a more unusual angle rather than directly on top of one another, so I decided to use the photocopier to experiment with this idea..


I'm happy with the copies because the colours look really groovy and with the wavy shapes it reminds me of something like a retro clothing pattern that I imagine wearing to a disco in the 80s, so it has quite a fun feel that can I find myself relating to popular culture. 
I really like how they captured the light and shadow on the masking tape version which gives the illusion that it is reflective or has metallic properties as if I had actually wrapped it in tin foil. The bottom right one is interesting to me because the solid pink shape looks like a shadow of the more illuminated shape, and it gives a sense of depth to the image. I think choosing the single colour setting on the printer helped make these pieces 'pop' because of the way the cardboard spiral came out as a block of colour and the masking tape one has more of a subtle, marbly effect.

From the black and white scans, my favourite is the bottom one because of the way the spirals are inter linked and it gives a more unusual composition that plays with our perception of depth, and I find the boldness of the solid black is quite eye-catching and reminds me of typical hypnotism imagery.


 








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