Two months have passed now since I started AA2A. During this first two months I have mainly been working to familiarise myself with the facilities that the Uni of Derby print room has and to experiment with new ink, various types of papers and techniques that I have never done or haven’t been working on for some time. The resulting prints have been very inconsistent in terms of appearance and I was feeling that I had under-achieved. I was also feeling slightly dis-orientated and unhappy with how I was working. However, I have identified what works and what doesn’t in the environment, have tried wooden type letterpress for the first time and have been able to figure out how Mokulito (a new technique to me) works, which was a small delightful achievement. I have also arrived at a theme which has always been of interest to me, and I think this suits the way I work.
During this period I have learned how to bind hard-back books at Leicester Print Workshop. Following that, I did some research into artists’ books in the university’s library. The library’s resources gave me different ideas of displaying and exhibiting (I was also inspired by Illya Kabakov’s installation works at Tate Modern). I don’t know if it will manifest during my AA2A residency but artist’s books was my focus in the foundation study (my final project was ‘Portable Exhibition’ comprising of numbers of small books and boxes), and installation art (alongside moving image) was part of my research interest during the BA course. I am hoping that these, alongside two dimensional prints, will be something I can confidently pursue in the future.
