The Subtleties of Colour: Can Colour be Used to Evoke Sublime Qualities?

Abstract

The book “Finding the Mother Tree” by forest ecologist Suzanne Simard explores how trees communicate through mycorrhizal fungi to exchange water, nutrients, and warn of impending danger. Ancient and mature trees nurture their offspring through these networks, exchanging water and nitrogen with other species. The discovery of the “Mother Tree” theory is a positive message of connectivity, education, and knowledge, but it is undermined by the fact that woodlands and forests worldwide are under threat, and the implications for the environment are significant.

I question whether it is possible to evoke the concept of the sublime to make us consider our place in the natural world and the importance of mature mother trees in healthy ecosystems.

My prints display a subtle but intentional use of colour. The relationship between colour and tone is intrinsic to the sublime qualities I aim to invoke in the work. I use drypoint etching, primarily employing subtle earth tones with additional colour in the form of chine collé or lithographic ink.

I draw on Joseph Albers’ Interaction of Colour experiments to examine how my use of colour, tone, light, and dark has an effect on the feeling of an image and of what I am trying to convey. The concept of the sublime is ultimately highly personal. I draw on Roland Barthes’ “punctum” to analyse my own response.