About Stellify 4 / deconstructed
For my twentieth Print Club edition, Stellify 4 / deconstructed, I wanted to revisit the idea of using a structured set of folds in the completed print to allow it to be both a long work and free standing. I like the idea of setting up an interplay between the folded geometry in the scene, with a free standing artwork that can hold its own space on a shelf, tabletop or work surface.
Club members were invited to choose from a set of five variations, and as such the prints that were sent out ranged from short editions of six to unique one off pieces. I like the idea that the club may create an ongoing dialogue with its members which can result in some quite unexpected outcomes. In this case, generating some quite bespoke pieces for collector’s homes.
Stellify 4 is the latest iteration of a series of drawings thrown up from my 60 piece modular origami model of the fourteenth stellation of an icosahedron, the most complex of the platonic solids. For v4 I’ve taken the original model, blown it apart, and distributed the resulting modular components throughout a kind of landscape of saturated colours.
For this piece, I really wanted to explore the idea of using large blocks of colour to break up the image into distinct sections, whilst the modular origami pieces flow across the ‘landscape’ in front of the different colour fields. There’s quite a lot of interest in the sensation of depth in the image, as the triangular facets overlay each other. I’ve also employed a kind of edge line, to add shadows and highlights, that I hope adds real interest and dynamism to the way the geometry sits on the page.
A friend of mine, Nick, very flatteringly described the studies as ‘Matisse meets Autechre’. I don’t think you could ask for a better review. The process of making the pieces took over six weeks of studio time on and off here, mostly on, as the model refused to be easily reassembled into anything cohesive. I really had to struggle with it to get a final set of usable images. That’s often the way of course. There tends to be a lack of spontaneity in a digital system, which means you can end up putting quite a lot of time and energy into ideas and processes that simply don’t pop in the way you were originally hoping for, and you then have to backtrack to somewhere more viable and push off in a new direction. It's all part of what makes systems based drawing so intriguing of course.
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Stellify 4 / deconstructed / EPC #20
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Edition of 24, plus 5 APs
10 colour pigment print on Hahnemühle 100% cotton rag
Printed in the studio, December 2nd 2021
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Sheet size 112cm W x 28cm H
In situ and in the studio
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Print Club News / October 28th, 2021
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...I've been working on a new set of drawings for the past six weeks or so, and to date I have maybe six works to show, derived from my original Stellify model, based around the fourteenth stellation of an icosahedron, with a dodecahedron at its core.
It was originally built from sixty components to form a complex modular origami model. But for this study, I've exploded the form and reimagined it as some kind of quasi architectural landscape.
To make the studies I created around 240 modular drawings, each one a study of three or four components, and then grafted them back together to form a series of long horizontal images containing maybe forty to sixty components in each study, spread out, or deconstructed, across a broad vista.
I'm not entirely sure what to make of it! The ideas for the study drive the production and resolution of the images, and so, as ever, I'm getting some fairly experimental results from a concept that doesn't have a particularly firm goal in mind, other than a desire to try building something with a modular approach, and trusting the process, which is always a leap of faith...
About the Print Club
If you’d like to receive three or four exclusive new editions in the post each year, alongside personal news and views from the studio, and invitations to shows and fairs, please do consider becoming a member of my Experimental Print Club. You can join or leave the club at any time, with absolutely no obligation to stay any longer than you want to.
New works are sent out somewhat sporadically throughout the year, often in line with the changing seasons. Each piece is unique, exclusive, and only available on the day it’s editioned, the size of the edition being determined by the number of members on the day.
I hope the club presents a more personal and intriguing way to connect with the studio, by creating a platform for collecting engaging new works for your home. The club is hosted online here, and I send out fairly regular blog posts and emails about the work too. I’d like to think that it’s an interesting proposition!
Membership is currently priced at £36 per month inc. UK delivery, or £42 for an international address.
Associated works
