Artwork description:

Four plate intaglio

Printed on Hahnemuhle paper

Edition of 10

Handprinted, signed and numbered

Specimen is a series of photopolymer etchings inspired by the history of collecting studying, and displaying ‘wet specimens’. After discovering a set in a French museum, I visited the archives of Bristol Museums and Galleries who were kind enough to let me study their wet specimens. Up close, suspended in time, these specimens offer an intimate, almost voyeuristic view into their inner workings.

My art practice often explores the gaze, who is looking at an artwork, where and when. The intimacy between the viewer and the artwork is different every time, each has their own unique relationship. In the Specimens series I focused on the way that specimens are there for us to look at, to study close up, to use to further our knowledge of the world.

I have taken my original images and reworked them into a round, reminiscence of the eyeball, to emphasise the sense of looking intensely. The etchings are deliberately dark, in shadow, so the viewer is pulled close, encouraged to really look hard to see what is there, much like these specimens would they been viewed by so many over the years in museums and laboratories.

Specimens: i,ii,iii,iv is a four plate intaglio on Hahnemuhle natural etching paper. Each plate is inked separately and carefully arranged on the press to be printed in a single pass. Getting the spacing right and making sure nothing shifts when the wet paper is placed on top takes a steady hand and a bit of patience The result is very satisfying when it all comes together.

Materials used:

Four plate intaglio Printed on Hahnemuhle natural etching paper