ray fitzgerald

1st Year LSAD ☆ Printmaking ☆ It's Not About You, It's Around You

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Final Display & Sketchbook 2/5/25

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Artist Research : Alexander Endrullat

Shown to me by Suzannah, this artists use of crushed laptops in his prints creates some amazing work. I'm unsure where he gets the laptops from but he also bends/distorts them for his sculptural works.

The repurposing of these objects for his work gives them a new life outside of just being discarded when they don't work anymore.

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Artist Research : Tatsuo Miyajima

This artist Honestly caught my eye because of how well it relates to work I had made last project during the screenprinting workshop. Looking back on this printmaking project I wish I had gotten to use screenprinting more because I really had a lot of fun experimenting with different types of stencil and how my previous work could have carried on into this project.

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Final Week 28th-2nd

Over Easter I had the idea to use an old computer keyboard in a piece. Initially I planned to wash/scrape off the existing text and make stamps to replace them with internet slogans/something similar. Unfortunately I couldn't remove them with what I had at home and was worried that spray painting it would still leave any raised text visible.

Unsure of what to do, my final day printing I decided to just ink of the actual keyboard and hope for the best. Not entirely happy with this as I wished I used a different colour ink but I'm glad I somehow found a way to use incorporate this into the project.

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Final Week 28th-2nd

Attempting to make more work in the final week I made a companion piece for my Creation of Adam prints. Using this statue from the grotto near my house I used the figure of the Virgin Mary as the subject of this piece.

The rotation of the paper to a diamond shape was more so a practical decision as I wanted the figure to seem very elongated and have the diagonal lines draw the eye close to the centre.

I didn't intend for the prints to have such an eerie feeling but it works in it's favour. The lack of ink also contributes giving them a sort of TV static appearance and reminded me of old religious cartoons we would watch in primary school

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Final Week 28th-2nd

Inspired by my research into Divine Machinery I decided to reference Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam. Using my previously edited photos as a background I used the photocopier to print them onto a thicker paper. Because of how recent the photocopies were the background still came through the black ink which I didnt expect but was very happy with. I was worried the black ink would be too much of a contrast and the background would get lost - overall very happy with these.

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Artist Research Otto Piene

While not entirely relevant to my project, this artists work really struck out to me initially because of the use of colour. Similarly I really enjoy using red, blue and black in my work for this project. His screenprints, particularly the two show below remind me of work I have done for this project with my monoprints and digital pieces.

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Follow up from my last post - Some examples of the digital works created from the original images

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Collection of images gathered from tumblr/pinterest that would make good backgrounds for my relief prints. Edited images will be shown in next post

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Divine Machinery

While researching I stumbled across online communities centring around an aesthetic called "Divine Machinery". Focusing on imagery of technology and Christianity it compares the two putting humans in the place of creator and machines in the place of creator.

It also flips this, depicting objects like Transmision Towers and large computers as angels/divine, sentient beings. The worship of technology in this way is distinct, and could have only come about in the 21st Century

Some examples from pinterest

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Final prints using keyboard Woodblock 28/4/25

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End of Easter/Final Week 28/4/25

Feeling as if a lot of my work was unfinished, I decided to carve a woodblock design to use on top of previous works. Using my own laptop keyboard I mirrored a few of the keys and copied this design directly. This was my first time printing with woodblock as I did not get a chance to use my reduction block weeks before (And it not relating to my concept didn't motivate me)

Keeping to red and blues the prints turned out really well - I layered them/rotated the block to create more interesting prints and to make sure not to waste any ink/paper

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Easter Break 14/4/25

Before/During the easter break I passed the time listening to/watching a lot of true crime investigations online. The case of Ted Kaczinsky - the “Unabomber” was something I was very familiar with and found it extrememly ironic that this was soley due to the internet. Regarded by many supporters as ahead of its time I can’t help but find it funny how many people finding some truth in his essays rely so heavily on technology in order to share his ideas - Completely the opposite of his goal.

While I didn’t have many print materials at home with me, I made some pieces in photoshop. Hopefully the more simple designs I can use/trace as screenprints after easter.

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Week 4: 7/4/25 Pre-Easter

Our final week before Easter I spent a long time brainstorming what to do. I had rediscovered the NASA time capsule images from the 1990's which led me to the idea of technology being used to prolong/preserve things.

Trying to flip this on its head, while doodling I started stamping my thumb prints in my sketchbook. Being unique to each person - I think this organically designed trait is something that can escape the control of technology's influence on us.

Going back to the anthotype process and after exploding a UV Machine with Fiona and Suzannah I made use of the great weather. Using a coffee filter to filter the mixture on these bottom 2 prints seemed to be the cause of the purple colour - really cool!!

Although the designs didnt come out very clear with the darker colour the back of the page really interested me. The plastic bag I used to transfer the paper outside somehow inprinted onto the page causing the vein/wire like lines all over and the colour bleeding.

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Week 3: 31/3/25 Electro - Etching

week 3 centred on the electro etch process. I think I can safely say I am Not a fan of etching.

Using images from the library I had stuck into my sketchbook I created this weird composition combining the human figure with contrasting patterns. I think the pressure in my head that the etching on the plate had to be Perfect really threw me off - I much prefer the sketches here than the finished plate

I only had the chance to print this etching on the day - but since then the finished etching was left on the rack and i completely forgot to collect it ....who knows where it is........

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Artist Research: New Reproductions - David Maljkovic

This series of collages was made using film and using imagery contrasting analogue and digital photography. Layered and torn, the artist attempts to combine the differences between fiction and documentary in poster form. This felt very relevant to my project as the use of collage really appeals to me. The uncertainty whether images presented are real of fiction is very present in the modern day particularly with the rise of AI and Deepfake technology.

The artists reuse of images/works also present in his other works found here and felt very relevant to the theme of the project overall.

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Artist Research: Robert Rauschenburg

Robert Rauschenburg was an artist suggested to me by Suzannah because of his collage works. After attending Chris Cleary's talk and seeing how collage is used in printmaking really interested me.

The use of traditional collage with paint and photography is something you don't see as often anymore with Photoshop and other programs being widely accessible. His works from the 1950s-60s especially peaked my interest - using imagery relevant to the time it was made (JFK, spacesuits, "American" symbols)

Being a big history fan this period of time always stuck out to me as a time of big technological development with the moon landing and development of early computer systems and television going global.