This series of work work was created as part of The Visible Word (Caseroom Cluster) Research group. Formed in June 2022, our aim has been to explore the cross-disciplinary research potential of The Caseroom, GSA’s collection of Letterpress printing equipment. Group members include practitioners of Silversmithing and Jewellery, Textiles, Creative and Critical Writing, Graphic Design, Print, and Interaction Design. Using the Caseroom as both archive and provocation, we explored key themes from our initial brief through the lens of our own practices.
My work references typographic nuances like weight, scale, perfection, and imperfection, while exploring the intersection of type, letterpress, and goldsmithing practices to uncover new connections. Niello (a silver, copper, lead, and sulphur alloy) on matte surfaces alludes to ink on paper, highlighting the value of craft skills, materials and tools
Gerard Unger, in his book While You’re Reading commented that “…when letters first began to take shape, eyes and hands worked together, letters and reading distance evolved side by side”. This statement focuses on the embodied interaction with text and craft and resonated with my previous approaches to making, I sought to reference this alongside typographic nuances such as detail, spacing, weight, scale, perfection and imperfection This This interrogation of the printing processes aligns with my ongoing research in optical principles and illusion, to consider how we see and perceive type.
Exhibitions
The New Glasgow Society
4-5 September 2023
SoD Research Cluster Showcase During The European Academy of Design Conference
GSA Reid Building
19-20 October 2023
Talk / Presentation
Post Graduate Core Research Methods Session
Reid Lecture Theatre
25th October
As well as exhibiting a series of letter press prints which informed this series of Niello (a silver, copper, lead, and sulphur alloy) on silver matte surfaces alludes to ink on paper, highlighting the value of craft skills, materials and tools. I worked with the Niello low melt alloy in liquid form - rolling, thinning out the material like ink or fusing I to the surface.
