cuttlebones

2023: Precarious times

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This is the third major project for my Studio 2 course, as part of the Master of Fine Art program. This large scale, mixed-media installation exemplified the use of a conceptual framework and iterative installations to progressively develop work, and through the process suggest regenerative possibilities.

It was designed to warn of the accelerating impact of climate change while signalling the redemptive possibilities of nature. The final installation evolved from an earlier Studio 2 animation in which tumbling shapes suggested the use of a vertical flip book to convey time and motion in two dimensions. 

The concept was framed along cartography, calligraphy and oceanography lines, as exploratory prompts. This framework underpinned the project’s expansion over experimental installations as I effectively terraformed the Gossard space (coincidently a technique suggested by Donna Haraway as a way to rejuvenate our vulnerable planet, in her book Staying with the trouble : making kin in the Chthulucene). 

Photograph by Elizabeth Cole of final installation of Precarious times, view 1 on 12 October 2023. Acrylic on 250 and 640 gsm paper, sizes variable. Wood painted white and portable white projector. 2023.

Photograph by Elizabeth Cole of final installation of Precarious times, view 2 on 12 October 2023. Acrylic on 640 gsm paper, sizes variable, shapes made from plaster, wax, wood. 2023.
Photograph by Elizabeth Cole of final installation of Precarious times, view 3 on 12 October 2023.
Acrylic on 640 gsm paper, 56 x 76 cm, Shapes made from plaster, wax, wood. 2023.

2023: Carbonised

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This is another project for Studio 2, as part of my Master of Fine Art program. It consisted of a mournful, site-specific installation of charred cuttlebones, showing how a selected location informed a body of work. While continuing to memorialise endangered sea-life through cuttlebones, for this site specific project I entered the shadowy realm of museum storage the mausoleum of colonial trophies and taxidermy. Based on a dilapidated plan drawer this installation consisted of eight cuttlebones surrounded by pictorial labels, tags and flip books made from relief prints. The relief prints featured the contour lines of the cuttlebone.

This project was intended to create a mournful affect, with the charred cuttlebones symbolising the extreme consequence of global warming.

Photograph by Elizabeth Cole of Carbonised installation, close up of eight casts and tags, 2023. Casts made from high compression gypsum, painted with acrylic, with twine and tags from 250 gsm paper. Cast sizes variable, approx. 24 x 9 x 3.5 cm. 2023.
Photograph by Elizabeth Cole of revised configuration of the Carbonised installation, for a meeting with my supervisor, 2023.

 

2023: Entombed in plain sight

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This is a project for my Master of Fine Art Studio 2 course. It consisted of an installation of bound cuttlebones, demonstrating innovation to transform an unsuccessful experiment into a beacon of hope. As shown in the image below this work features plaster-bound cuttlebones floating in space and time, trapped for eternity in acrylic trophy boxes. The work traverses a regenerative arc, first repurposed as a memorial to extinction and then evolving into a post-human life-form.

The use of green wax to coat the cuttlebones is symbolic. While originally a technical necessity for casting (green wax being the only colour available), the colour suggests chlorophyll and in turn photosynthesis, nature’s non-destructive way of converting light into energy.

Hence while intended to memorialise sea-life, colour and composition opened up the narrative possibility of an absurdist form of post-human life, and concurrently, the redemptive possibilities of solar energy. The intended affect was thus amusement, and hope at the transformative possibilities of recycling.

Photograph by Elizabeth Cole of plaster-bound cuttlebones in acrylic boxes on legs. Materials: cuttlebones, wax, plaster bandages, acrylic and metal. Dimensions: boxes 32 wide x 23 deep x 20 cm high, legs 38 cm wide x 45 cm high. Dimension per assembly approx. 34 cm wide and 65 cm high. Level 3 Building 49, RMIT 2023.
Photograph by Elizabeth Cole of plaster-bound cuttlebones in acrylic boxes, mounted on legs in the corridor, mobilised for flight. Level 3 Building 49 RMIT. 2023.

Work in progress-cuttlebone and sea urchin 4 plate colour etching

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I have continued work on a current project, the 4 plate colour etching of 2 cuttlebones and 2 sea urchins. I used a variety of inks on Somerset Velvet 250 gsm paper:

-Gamblin etching ink: sepia and graphite

-Charbonnel etching ink: soft black and raw sienna

I used the raw sienna in place of yellow ochre, as the yellow ochre did not seem to work well with the copper plate. The raw sienna has greater depth and consistency, fleshing out the effect of the spit etch.

Of the two works shown below, one has all plates aligned correctly, the other has them deliberately out of alignment, to see how such mis alignment impacts the extent of abstraction.

Cuttlebone and sea urchin etching- work in progress

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I have just tried using a new soft black etching ink from Charbonnel- the Noir Doux ink. It is easy to wipe and produces a lovely finish. The results are shown below on a 3 plate etching. I am aiming for a painterly finish.

Cuttlebone project continued

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Whilst working on my copper plates for the multi plate etching of cuttlebones and sea urchins, I also explored creating images by drawing with my left hand (I am right handed). The drawings are shown below. The idea of left hand (or non dominant hand) drawing is that it should free you up, loosen control. Hmm.