Print Club News / August 2022
Stellify 4 / EPC / deconstructed
I've finally completed a new set of photos to document my Stellify 4 print club editions. They've been a little while in the works. I thought I'd post a few of the images here. If you'd like to know more about the project it's featured on my website and blog here...
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 it’s own space on a shelf, table top or work surface.
Print 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 bespoke pieces for collector’s homes.
Stellify 4 is the latest iteration from a series of drawings abstracted 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.
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, 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.
Finally, for today, I thought I'd send over my latest studio playlist. I tend to have music on when I'm editing the work, less so when I'm making the original drawings, but as things come together I quite like to zone into some kind of rhythm, that may drive the pace of the edit.
I hope you enjoy it. You may well already have heard it all before of course, it's not particularly obscure. Apologies in advance if this selection isn't for you, maybe the next set will be!
In the meantime, many thanks for your interest, it’s much appreciated...
With best regards,
Chuck Elliott
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 £32 per month inc. UK delivery, or £36 for an international address.
