I am just passing through

Klein, Susanne

Abstract

Covid has reminded everyone that our lives are finite. It made me reflect on what I will leave behind. I want to be remembered. I want to leave visible traces which are typically for me, even though I am just passing through. Lockdown made me return to a technique I have learned as a child and used through my whole life, even in scientific settings: linocut. Linocut is an archaic and direct technique. It can be done with very little equipment, a piece of linoleum, flooring linoleum will do, and some cutting tools. As with all interactions between the human hand and material, the practioner cannot work against the material, she must work with the material. This becomes more and more obvious when working on large scale. For the linocuts in the exhibition, I have used flooring lino because this was the only one which came in the dimensions I needed. The density of the lino is not homogeneous which makes the knife slip more easily. Lino is elastic. Using a hammer to drive the knife into the plate is useless. It just bounces back. When working with big blades, I have to rely on my own strength. All this is part of my mark making, capturing time and leaving traces. Through the whole process I interact with the plate. To design the print, I either lie, sit or walk over the plate, my first trace. Then I lie on the plate to cut it, my second trace (blood, sweat and tears) and finally I kneel next to it to print it with a slama press which takes at least an hour per print, third trace. At the end I am sure that I have left my mark.

• Exhibition Performance Type: Exhibition
• Start Date: Sep 20, 2022
• End Date: Sep 24, 2022
• Deposit Date: Oct 14, 2022
• Keywords: large scale linocut, laser cutting, relief print
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10039364
• Related Public URLs: https://cfpr.uwe.ac.uk/impactconference12/