Rubber/Linocut Workshop

Brief rundown of concept: for this workshop we were instructed to prepare a self-portrait sketch which we would later carve onto a rubber and print. At that point of the module I didn’t really have a clear idea of what I wanted to do for the project so I decided to go for something that might seem a bit irrelevant to the project, however, thinking back on it, I believe it was the beginning of what would soon become my current project. I played on the idea of a self-portrait and turned it into a cell-f-portrait. The task mentioned a “modular system” and upon reading that, my mind went straight to cells and how some create incredibly neat modular systems.

Rhythmic compositions

Basing the overall shape of the “rubber” was a no-brainer, however, I knew that I could not get away with just a single design for it. I mean, I could, but I personally would not have been satisfied with myself had I done so. Thus, thinking commenced and I had the idea of doing 3 different cell designs which would reflect my 3 dominant emotions/states of mind – anxiety, infatuation and delirium. Each cell’s design (size and shape included) represented each of the states.

The biggest – anxiety – is the way it is because of how big of a role anxiety plays in my daily life, often over-bearing me and those around me.

Delirium makes me feel the “smallest” and as though I am less than.

Infatuation, on the other hand, makes me feel the “tallest” or the “mightiest”, hence the stretched out, tall shape.

The shapes were purposefully made semi-symmetrical so that they would work well together, but not too well as in the end, they represent different aspects of my persona, aspects that tend to clash and cancel out one another. Should I have extra time, I’d like to give creating a bigger scale piece out of these stamps a try.

Also, to address the elephant in the room, the only reason I’ve done this using lino is because I just did not have the means of obtaining a proper rubber.. By the time we were handed out the rubbers in the classroom I had already decided that I would do the workshop using lino as I had the sketches and concept down already, would have been a shame to throw it away just because!

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