Memory can change the shape of a room, it can change the colour of a car, memories can be distorted. They’re just an interpretaion not a record.
Lenny, Film ‘Memento’ by Christopher Nolan, 2000.
On my research page I mentioned Christopher Nolan's film ‘Memento’, from which the quote to the left is from, in relation to how material and technical changes can transcend completely different interpretations and visual associations for a viewer.
The idea that the anticipation of loss inspires one to create, I find truth within this concept and in aspects of my work. I think a sense of loss or loosing is an inspirational sensation and one that many are directly influenced by, from those who draw that of beauty to those who focus on the macabre. We are all capturing and essence of something before it slips away.
Below is the initial series of monotype print I completed before progressing on to the offset release printing press. I had decided to continue the form of instinctive mark and image making. Initially I didn’t use any sources of imagery from sketch books or photo albums on purpose; I wanted to make it as difficult as possible to challenge my memory centre, but also I felt that if I had the information infant of my the works would be stiff and potentially dry before I had time to print. I think the visual opacity is exciting and the kind of marks I am creating on them are ones I have continued into my paintings.
Due to the nature of monotype printing as a technique I find there is a sense of repetition that references back to ideas that philosophy Henri Bergson in ‘Matter and Memory’ conveys around repetition and habit, but also it allows it allows me to develop my imagery and my understanding of memory through the process of physically creating the images, playing with opacity, ground and layering. I find the method has been extremely important for the development of my imagery.
