Print of the moon

Moon 12-10-19

A new salt print series looking at the moon.

I’ve just completed the first run of prints of the first image from this project. I’m really happy with the quality. It marks a milestone in this exploratory project, owning and being present in each step of the process, exploring a familiar object but with an attention to detail that almost brings a fresh set of eyes just how spectacular it actually is.

These prints are available HERE. I will be keeping some back to be part of a larger body of exhibiting work.

Following the NEO (Near Earth Objects) print series I began to broaden my thinking. In terms of the material, I started looking for a medium that will reproduce images in finer detail. In terms of ideas, I began to think about authenticity, presence and image ownership.

I began experimenting with the salt print technique. When making the paper for salt prints you size the paper with salt (Sodium Chloride) and sensitise the paper with Silver Nitrate which reacts to the salt when exposed to UV light.

With the recent NEO series I was working with what I had at hand, locally, (see my zine HERE for more info) to set out to explore a new set of developing ideas about place, meaning and distance. The next steps have been to maintain this direct connection with the subject but to cast my gaze wider, to see what results in an effort to connect with and capture genuinely remote objects.

I began learning how to use a telescope and would set out on clear nights to the coast to try and capture images of the moon (Check my instagram feed for in process images). As a result I began meeting people and having conversations out there, by the sea. Talking about the moon. I met a really interesting person who said they would go there regualrly on a full moon to say a prayer to thank the moon for existing. Standing out by the sea, pointing my telescope first at lights on distant ships and then up to the moon, talking to the person who took the time to regularly contemplate the moon, Italo Calvinos main protagonist ‘qfwfq’ from his Cosmicomics series came to mind. I started to make sense of this series in a way I hadn’t before. qfwfq is the observer whose presence connects us to new ways of understanding the sheer scale and complexity of space whilst relating it to our daily lives. It is a complicated undertaking and whilst I cannot yet fully pin down my motivations for continuing this exploration in writing, I can say that it is fertile ground for exploration and an exciting time in my artistic practice.

I’ll post more as the project develops. .