Suminagashi marbling: water, marbling ink on Shogi 32 gsm Kozo paper.   950*750mm

When, MA Student Showcase at the Museum of English Rural Life, March 17^th – June 14^th          

The theme – Time.

How do we perceive time? Is it distorted as when we view things through water? Does it refract and bend?

This large print explores the ethereal nature of time through the monochrome rings of an age-old traditional Japanese marbling technique called Suminagashi ink marbling that, unlike European marbling, forms concentric rings – not unlike the rings of a tree that tell us how old it was before it was cut down.  

Conception and Making

Experiments with Marbling technique: marbling ink in a small tray; the word time dispersing in the water; slices of ‘time’ collaged together.

The first tree ring onto 300msg Cartridge paper. 350*420mm

The tree ring is such a strong visual symbol of time taught first at primary school that everyone is familiar with. I could have produced a similar image through frottage or rubbing of an actual tree ring, but I wanted the image to be at least twice removed from the reality.

Time is never that clear and can be perceived to slow down and speed up and is often distorted with time. The Suminagashi marbling technique meant that the representation was distanced through the absence of the object, shifting the focus to process, movement and the ephemeral nature of the present moment. The distortion of water adds to this and floating image is then captured onto the paper (twice removed).

With experimentation I found that cartridge paper was too heavy – the theme was Time and it looked too solid. I wanted to achieve a more ethereal interpretation of time. I found the collage a nice idea, but the affect was too disjointed.

Experiments with words on water lead me on to make a video projection which formed the main part of this exhibition.