This was a work I undertook specifically for a residency and exhibition at Jeremy Higginbotham’s in Berlin in October 2006. It was made in the early days after my Fine Art BA and was something of a departure from the material and thematic preoccupations of my work since then. The representational element is unusual for me and shows that I was thinking more about technique than subject-matter at the time, although I did vaguely have Marc Chagal’s ‘Birthday’ in mind when I began to compose the two figures.
I used scalpels to fine-cut the image from a 1.5 by 0.5 metre sheet of laminating foil bought from a High-Street stationery shop. I then painstakingly applied the laminate to a thick sheet of Fabriano paper. The effect is somewhat like commercial spot-glossing and it is easy to mistake it for a print at first glance. However, the glue of the underside is exposed around the cut edges and on closer observation one begins to see air-dust particles stuck to the outline, as well as all the other minuscule imperfections attendant on the manual process.
The resulting image is typically invisible or partly-visible and emerges from the sheer white of its background as the light changes, or as the viewer walks around it. It is almost impossible to see the image in full and it only happens fleetingly through a difficult jointure of light and viewer-position.
The thematic contrast of exhibitionism and timidity was a deliberate interpretation of my relationship at the time.
The work is very fragile and will most likely degrade and change its tone with time. Its very nature precludes framing and so any potential owner should understand that it can only exist temporarily – perhaps another 15 or 20 years, depending on light and care.
