An amazing first week to Module 5 - Launch! I have decided to focus on my idea of the "New Gods" - postulating the idea that in this world of Science and Atheism, there are still an abundance of celebrated holidays and motifs that are largely unknown to the majority as to what the significance the celebrated holidays, gods and monsters are about. How many people know why St Nicholas is now known as Santa Claus and why he is known for the practice of gift giving? Or why Easter is called Easter and why we give each other chocolate bunnies and eggs? This week I landed in my thinking by focusing on the giving of faces and personalities to "vital forces". Starting with "The Green Man" - he is an easily recognisable feature in many gardens up and down the UK, but where did he come from and why do we hang his face in our gardens? The Green Man is a legendary being, given to mean a symbol of rebirth, representing new growth that occurs every spring. The Green Man is frequently depicted in sculptures, chiefly depicted as a face which is comprised of leaves. With Spring just around the corner I deeply enjoyed researching this aspect of Celtic and English mythology and created a quick wood carving which I pressed in ink which gave a wonderful sort of mossy effect to the soft wood:
As a group, we visited the Goldfish Bowl gallery on Campus for the 20 : 20 Print Exchange exhibition in which 30 Falmouth Campus print-makers from multiple degrees took part in the Hotbed Press organised 20:20 Print Exchange. They each made an edition of 25 prints to be shared and exchanged with the other 570 participants from 35 printmaking workshops in the UK and around the world. Below are a couple of my favourites:
Having recently done litho printing and done my induction to screen print and plate printing, I am continually astonished by what can be achieved with different techniques. I particularly like the print above depicting the "control room". It was created by Tom Woodward, the technician in our printmaking centre, having spent quite a bit of time with him and saw his process of designing the ideas behind the print he created. He created a diorama of an old 1960s control room, frequently depicted in shows like Captain Scarlet and Thunderbirds and took photos of them and used different printmaking techniques to create the finished print. Very impressive to a beginner like me.
