This is made up of three etchings, in which letters and signs form a pictorial composition. The motif is the same, but the colour scheme changes.
In these pieces, I explored the binding force of symbols, signs, textures, forms, and the paradoxical nature of colour as a transference, emotional imprint, and trigger, as both an individualistic expression and a binding atmospheric force. To do this, I examined my own interaction with forms, textures, text and colour compositions of weathered posters and surfaces in my environment and how these influence and touch upon the social, political, and economic dimensions of the day-to-day interaction, the complex interplay between our emotions and associations. In a way, this is for me to examine the world through the eyes of these weathered posters and surfaces and through the eyes of the creators of these posters. Even though their story may not be mine but then, the essence of war, joy, and happiness remains the same, a shared narrative.
Unlike my other pieces, which I appropriate, both the remanence of my environment and images and texts from historical events like the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the apartheid of South Africa, and the civil rights movement of America. In these pieces, I examine the elements within my immediate environment, that’s the weathered posters and surfaces, looking at elements like colours, textures and marks. Using etching, a layered production method to transfer the textures, forms and marks onto the zinc plate for the prints. This layered approach of etching and printing for me is a way to transfer the fragment of individualistic expression and a communal narrative. Also, to provoke thought and question the recurrences of events in different temporalities and locations.
It is to engage with the passage of time and the stories embedded within layers of marks, textures and colours, whether they are visual, cultural, or historical.
