Week 13 - Micro exam

For the micro exam we had an hour and a half to produce an outcome based on our personal investigation that we had been doing in throughout the term. I continued to focus on my Dad's service and the loss of identity. I refined my practise by only having one piece instead of a collection, this way I can layer the idea of unanimity.

I began my cutting the card on a larger scale, and cut paper the same size. I monoprinted using green and black ink to create a darker green - representable of Army uniform. Towards the centre of the print I used a wet paper towel to remove ink from the page. The water allowed the shapes to interlink like camouflage. Moving outwards, I used a dry paper towel to remove the ink so that the outer part had more white in it, providing more contrast, so the eye is drawn to the centre of the piece.

Next I added the cut out photographs and stuck them to the centre of the piece. I also used a scalpel to cut out camouflage shapes to reveal the corrugated card underneath. To put the soldiers in the surroundings, I put a darker green around them, thus creating even more contrast.

I applied three rows of numbers to represent the identity numbers that each soldier has, across the middle of the piece. This distorts the image of the soldiers and therefore there identity is being manipulated. I used white emulsion paint for this as it is transparent so it is still relatively clear that there are soldiers behind it.

Towards the edges of the piece, the numbers become less visible and so present the soldiers' unanimity. This piece could either be hung or framed, although I think a white frame would look better.

I am pleased with the outcome of this piece, but I still think that there could be more contrast and that the images could fill the background more. I think I have created a focal point in the piece which I was focussing on a lot since my practise didn't have one and appeared confusing. The size of the camouflage shapes are a good size as they don't detract attention from the centre.