Transparent things fascinate me. I can’t exactly explain why. It just conjures up this sleek futuristic-like visual experience that I really like. The ability to see through strong matter constructed of no color is really nothing short of an earthly miracle. Glass has been around for centuries. Plastic is somewhat of a new revolution yet extremely well engrained in our modern culture. New materials are being designed and implemented everyday. The possibilities in transparent technology is endless. I've heard scientists have been experimenting with light bending technologies in order to achieve invisibility of physical objects. That’s insane!
I like to use a lot of transparency in my art. I like to see colors overlap one another yet have the ability to mix at the same time. The visual blending that it creates is wonderful. Throw a some light in there to get a nice glare or reflection. Oh baby… That tickles my brain in just the right way.
Anyway, let’s get down to business. I’ve been taking some of my vector art and thinking up ways on how to best display it. I like the idea of just doing a a giant black and white xerox print. But I don’t know if that is the strongest option. I have been experimenting with silk screening and making simple two color prints. That has been working out really well. However, I always like to try new things. The exploration phase in making art is the most exciting part in my opinion. How do I go about transferring my art from the screen to a tangible canvas? And how do I do it in the most exciting way possible?
And so...
At normal day-to-day work, I have been thinking a lot about parallax as I’ve been doing all this research on how to make our work stronger and more visually stunning. In an age where 3D in film and televisions are becoming a norm, my point of interest lies in how I can make design more dimensional, more 3D and more tangible. Parallax is a great solution. Especially if subtle movement is implemented to enhance a floating-like experience.
Armed with this research, the art side of my brain began to tingle. This notion that I could take my vector collages and add a bit more depth to them became apparent. But how can I achieve that in the printed form?
Armed with this research, the art side of my brain began to tingle. This notion that I could take my vector collages and add a bit more depth to them became apparent. But how can I achieve that in the printed form?
"A tangible transparent version of physical parallax if you will."
The process is actually not that much different than traditional silk screen practices. Each color is its own individual plane. When you stack the planes on top of one another, all the shapes puzzle together to complete a desired form. That’s exactly the idea behind this triptych series. In order to get these images to stack correctly, transparent prints needed to to be made in order to strengthen the dimensionality of it.
As you can see from the images, there are two planes being used. A dark purple for the back layer and a bright pink for the foreground layer. When sandwiched between a couple layers of thin glass, this subtle separation in distance starts to form.
I chose to use frames with no backing to further enhance the experience by putting the art in a place where the users background plays a role. Life is not one plane or two planes or three, but thousands. Now, life can become a component in the work. However, the main application for frames is to hang them on a wall. The wall acts as the final layer destination. The absolute background.
As you can see from the images, there are two planes being used. A dark purple for the back layer and a bright pink for the foreground layer. When sandwiched between a couple layers of thin glass, this subtle separation in distance starts to form.
I chose to use frames with no backing to further enhance the experience by putting the art in a place where the users background plays a role. Life is not one plane or two planes or three, but thousands. Now, life can become a component in the work. However, the main application for frames is to hang them on a wall. The wall acts as the final layer destination. The absolute background.
Here are some images of the triptych in all kids of situations and scenarios. If I decide to move in this direction, I feel like it would be a great benefit if I screen the colors myself with ink rather than use a digital print. The colors will be more bold and saturated thus creating a richer experience. But you know… I’m just figuring this stuff out as I go.
