Project: Fragments of a Lost Voice

I’ve worked with many types of printmaking and in this project I’ve combined techniques to produce a complex final art piece.

Stage 1:

An aluminium plate was submerged for a very short period into copper sulphate solution to create an all-over tooth across the surface. All but the edges were blocked out using liquid hard ground and the plate was etched again. More of the edging was blocked out and the process repeated a couple more times.
After cleaning, a print was taken.

Stage 2:

A second plate was prepared with hard ground, lines drawn into the surface, the plate etched and cleaned. A print was pulled onto tissue paper.

This was laid over the first plate to check placement and where further etching would be. The process continued with further blocking out and etching. Then the plates were printed together.

Stage 3:

After numerous attempts at various means of etching glyphs into aluminium and not succeeding I finally designed and cut a stencil and added the ‘text’ to the surface.

Stage 4 – the mixed media part:

• An old zinc plate was printed several times in a deep dull red. Pieces were torn from the prints.
• Using print dollies (see image left) watery Brusho paints were used to colour and age the paper surface. Using this method of stippling helps to blend colours, and adjusting the size of the dollies – larger or smaller bound ends – means paint can be added quite accurately when specific placement is required.
• Black and brown Sharpie pens were used to add a touch of detail here and there.
• The pieces were burnt over a candle then rolled.
• Offcuts of previously coloured paper were bound around the scrolls and linen thread attached ready to stitch the pieces in place.
• More of the thread was wound around the scrolls and they were stitched in place.

A variety of green acrylic paints were applied to Vliesofix to create the lichen. Small pieces were torn and ironed to the surface.

Crushed sandstone was added in selected areas and to the inside of the base of the frame.

The artist statement reads:

Every civilization leaves a breath behind. When the songs have faded, what remains is the “voice” etched into the earth.

Fragments of a Lost Voice serves as a landscape of memory – cracked by time, weathered by the elements, yet still holding the weight of an ancient intention.The script represents the rhythm of a lost dialect, a visual song that has survived the silence of centuries.

The bound scrolls are the keepers of secrets.They represent the whispers and prayers that were tucked away for safekeeping, honoring the mystery of a story that is most powerful when left untold.

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