SWIMMING TO THE SURFACE

SWIMMING TO THE SURFACE 

Image Size: W 29.5 x H 40 cms

Double Intaglio Photogravure print with Gelli Plate Collage

 

This print was influenced by a place near my studio where a 15C tower stands, isolated, in a graveyard at the end of a cul-de-sac. Discovering that this was the place where the last witch in England was drowned, explained its otherworldly atmosphere to me.  Drowning witches was sometimes called ‘Witch Swimming’, hence the title of the work. The injustice of these acts hit me as yet another way women have been wronged over the years, and it felt important to mark the life of this woman, Ruth Osborne, with a tribute that re-establishes her innocence.

As a printmaker, making marks and layering are important ways to impart a narrative; here I have juxtaposed two different Intaglio Etching plates in contrasting colours and created surface texture and tonal interest with a monoprint collage.

This work has been selected by Printmaker’s Council to appear in their Exhibition at Barbican Library called Surface Challenge.

SURFACE CHALLENGE

at The Barbican Library

www.barbican.org.uk/library

Barbican Library
Barbican Centre
London
EC2Y 8DS

Starts:       2 February, 2024           Ends: 27 February, 2024