Displacement: Paper and Enamel Within a Print Based Practice

Abstract

The concept of displacement and its consequences are permanently present in my practice, either in the narratives explored in light of the personal stories that have a wider psychological impact, or in the archaeological approach to tame raw, organic materials through the reconstitution of technological, 19th-century procedures considered obsolete and commercial. The approach to paper based on multiple experiments led to reconstructing feasible alternatives to the traditional techniques of obtaining images, including photographic and non-photographic processes. Revision of gillotage, reconstruction of lithographic drawing, painting and printing tools and working in situ directed the research into more immediate work with raw materials like resins, plasters, organic glues, and pigments. Preliminary tests of image development with dichromate dusting methods established satisfactory surfaces for traditional photo-enamel. In my PhD proposal, displacement meets with the obsolete techniques and the fusion of printmaking, photography, and glass as a haptic medium that corresponds to my heuristic approach.