Traces
I am interested in how interference colour changes when it is overprinted with inkjet colour. I could not directly apply the colour to the paper then print over this as it is an acrylic based medium, and is water resistent when dry, so the liquid ink might pool and smear on the surface, so in advance of forming the paper collage for the pages, I prepared several sheets of layered abaca papers and painted the colour on to this, then used shapes cut from the different colours to incorporate into the collage.
Each double page in the book is formed by pasting several layers of Abaca tissue, one over another, on a plastic surface, with the interference coloured shapes laid under the top layer of Abaca tissue. When dry, it results in a subtly textured surface. The paper is then sized ready for printing. In the meantime, I worked with Adobe photoshop to design the sequence of pages. The front and rear cover is made from the same paper, but using more layers to add strength. Each has two folds, one fold creating a foredge, the other to attach to the book pages. (Pages are sewn to cover using coptic chain stitch.) Once printed, hot wax is applied to each page, (the surplus being removed with a hot iron and newsprint). This makes the pages translucent, and the subtle colour of the paper shapes can now be seen, depending on the direction of the light.
This book is about perception. In the book are traces of shapes and patterns. Nothing is definite. Any narrative seems obscure, left open to be finished by the viewer. Hints of ideas in the scraps of text. Suggestions of time and place. There is a play between illusion and surface texture. A textured mark may be a thread, embedded in the paper layers, or a line drawn on screen to give the illusion of 3 dimensions, and printed on the surface of the paper. The opalescent shapes are barely perceptible at first, becoming clearer, then fade as the page is turned. Some embedded abaca paper shapes are only discernible by touch on the surface, while the reverse reveals a stronger trace. Lifting and turning the page is a vital part of the experience of the colour shift, causing the colour to appear or disappear depending on the viewing angle.
