About The Work
This edition by Matthew Arthur Williams was created to accompany the artist's solo exhibition Soon Come at Dundee Contemporary Arts.
Framing small moments in time, this print represents the layered, residual traces of lived events, gestures and human interactions highlighted by the artist. Williams developed this edition using a still from his film Soon Come - a single instant from a performative event described by the artist as "an improvised performance…a tug of war...trying to grab and grasp the other person's hand". This image was adapted to soften and reframe the interconnecting hands - intersecting the space like a horizon and bringing attention to the fragile tension of the subject upon paper.
The overlaid image is composed of hibiscus flowers used by Williams to make tea, and then transferred to the Print Studio and carefully arranged to create a soft-ground etching, printed with gold ink through which the underlying image can be seen. For Williams the hibiscus tea evokes moments infused with significance; rituals of community and taking time to recollect:
Hibiscus…in Jamaica, we call it sorrel - this hibiscus plant was carried over by the colonial administration...the Atlantic slave trade...it originates in West Africa I think. We boil and let it steep for quite a long time, add pimento, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, have cold, or warm, with alcohol, with ice. I wanted to bring the sorrel into the work because we are used to that in our lives as...not a peace offering, but...a warm gesture. (Matthew Arthur Williams )
Together these images recall print as a tactile means of representation, combining the photographic with the hand-printed, through pressure and removal, leaving visual imprints of live actions and human presence. In the artist's words: "[I call it] Steeped for Peace because in a way the hands and the hibiscus are both doing the same thing…performative gestures can be used as a metaphorical tool for other things in my work such as conflict, things that we internalize…things that we carry."
Courtesy of Dundee Contemporary
About Matthew Arthur Williams
Soft-ground etching and archival inkjet print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 310gsm paper
10.94 x 11.22 in
27.8 x 28.5 cm
This work is signed by the artist on verso.
About The Work
This edition by Matthew Arthur Williams was created to accompany the artist's solo exhibition Soon Come at Dundee Contemporary Arts.
Framing small moments in time, this print represents the layered, residual traces of lived events, gestures and human interactions highlighted by the artist. Williams developed this edition using a still from his film Soon Come - a single instant from a performative event described by the artist as "an improvised performance…a tug of war...trying to grab and grasp the other person's hand". This image was adapted to soften and reframe the interconnecting hands - intersecting the space like a horizon and bringing attention to the fragile tension of the subject upon paper.
The overlaid image is composed of hibiscus flowers used by Williams to make tea, and then transferred to the Print Studio and carefully arranged to create a soft-ground etching, printed with gold ink through which the underlying image can be seen. For Williams the hibiscus tea evokes moments infused with significance; rituals of community and taking time to recollect:
Hibiscus…in Jamaica, we call it sorrel - this hibiscus plant was carried over by the colonial administration...the Atlantic slave trade...it originates in West Africa I think. We boil and let it steep for quite a long time, add pimento, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, have cold, or warm, with alcohol, with ice. I wanted to bring the sorrel into the work because we are used to that in our lives as...not a peace offering, but...a warm gesture. (Matthew Arthur Williams )
Together these images recall print as a tactile means of representation, combining the photographic with the hand-printed, through pressure and removal, leaving visual imprints of live actions and human presence. In the artist's words: "[I call it] Steeped for Peace because in a way the hands and the hibiscus are both doing the same thing…performative gestures can be used as a metaphorical tool for other things in my work such as conflict, things that we internalize…things that we carry."
Courtesy of Dundee Contemporary
About Matthew Arthur Williams
Published by Dundee Contemporary Arts Print Studio
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