07 Jul On Twisted Wings – hand finished screen prints by Chloe Early
183cm by 122cm, 2008
“How I yearn to throw myself into endless space and float above the awful abyss” Goethe
I have been looking at the idea of flight, both real and metaphorical in my work for the past few years. The idea started with my diving girls series, it has developed and grown into thoughts on fleeing, departing and the desire to escape drudgery. The holiday is the most obvious expression of escapism manifests throughout culture in more subtle ways, scientific, technological and commercial. Most of our collective endeavours are a desire to distance ourselves from the lowly animal status of our species here on earth. Hearing about the tower jumpers of the Middle Ages – men dressed in homemade wings throwing themselves of towers in the name of flight research is a classic example of mans inability to accept his circumstances, ie I am a human but I want to fly like a bird too. In my work I want to capture that feeling of abandonment from reality and also underlie some of the dystopian effects that such an approach brings.
“On Twisted Wings” is a series of works, made using the screen print process which are part of a family whilst also having some individual elements and unique qualities to each print. I wanted to retain some of the spontaneity of my studio practice by combining hand painting with screen printing, switching back and forth between the layers. I don’t plan my paintings but start with a vague idea or primary image in my head and react in a pretty organic way daily to the marks/images I have the day before and I approached this print project in the same way.
Thanks to DFace for encouraging the project, Ronzo for letting me into his studio, Jaime for being the best assistant and all the rest of the Stolenspace crew for continued support.
p.s. keep an eye on Stolenspace for release details.