University of Tasmania
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Printmaking and the language of violence

thesis
posted on 2023-05-26, 03:13 authored by Rees-Pagh, YD
The aim of the project is to demonstrate that the traditional processes of printmaking, in particular etching, are relevant as a medium for artistic engagement with the subject of violence. My research investigates how printmaking has developed its own unique visual language as a means of addressing violence in our society, and specifically how artists have depicted violence using the medium of printmaking. To provide a context for my own practice, I examine artists from the past such as Jacques Callot, Francisco Goya, Käthe Kollwitz, Otto Dix and Pablo Picasso, all of whom engaged with the medium of etching to convey violence, as well as the work of contemporary artists Leon Golub, Nancy Spero, William Kentridge, Diane Victor, Sandow Birk, and Jake and Dinos Chapman which addresses issues such as war, social unrest and abuse of political power. The tradition of socio-political printmaking in Australia is also briefly examined, revealing a relative lack of contemporary artists in this field dealing with the theme of violence. This research informed the directions for my own work. My own work began by addressing global violence issues. Experimentation with unconventional materials and processes formed an integral part of the journey. The resultant effects from this experimentation were layered into and became part of the work. The focus of my final work is on social violence in Australia, in particular the Cronulla riots of 2005. Thousands of people were involved in these riots, making them the largest racially motivated riots in Australian history. The major work, The Cronulla Riot, is a large etching completely covering the gallery wall. My intention is to emphasise the chaos of the riot, imparted through the layers of figurative imagery, imbuing a sense of time. The scale of the work enables the viewer to feel immersed in the violence. The work challenges traditional printmaking boundaries by virtue of scale, methodology and subject matter. The power of etching, using a painstaking autographic process, has given new life to the theme of violence; an issue not explored in the medium in relation to the Cronulla riots by any other contemporary Australian artist. The core technology of etching may be ancient, but it continues to present the contemporary artist with a powerful and dynamic medium for personal artistic expression.

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Copyright 2013 the author

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