Opacity of wax

This week I have been looking at text and image placement, I have look at how the placement, size and opacity of text can influence the message of your overall image. I have also looked how text and image can combine to create a singular piece of work that is free standing and independent of written explanation. I have also looked at areas within art that text and image have combined to create a piece of singular information. Whilst researching I have found myself looking at many different types of media that can combine to create unique marks within paper/textile etc. I have also taken some time to create new work within the darkroom and allowed my expression of text to be free from outside influence. I have spent time exploring the properties of my home made bees wax crayons. By exploring pressure, I have looked at how much influence light can have on the paper once coated with the wax. Through this playful exploration I have found there is a direct correlation between pressure and light infiltration. The harder I press on the wax the larger distribution of wax upon the paper, so if I am wanting to create a pure white I need a high pressure to allow the wax to coat the paper and protect it from any developer.

In Fig 1 we see that I have applied a lot of wax to the text and allowed the text to become the main focus of the image. This for me hasn’t worked well to the brief I have set myself, the work becomes all about the text and the background imagery becomes just that, a background that loses importance when fighting alongside the harshness of the pure white text.

Fig 1

Also I need to be more conscious of what I am writing and where I am placing text, sometimes less is more. From Fig 1 we can see the I have applied different pressures throughout the text and for me the more successful texts are the words “Save you” and “Contaminated” the reason for this is the text and image are working with each other. They have become one singular display of information; this has been created by applying less pressure to the wax but also applying a small amount of heat so I can gently remove small amounts of wax to allow the developer to penetrate certain areas within the text.

Fig 2

In Fig 2 we can see I have made a lot more progress in the placement of my object and text. The text becomes a part of the whole image rather than something unconnected. The use of heating the wax to produce a contrast within the text has also been very effective. I will continue to develop this as my project develops. I will also continue to explore the idea of the state of the flowers ( dying or not) and how my using withered plant forms I can help install a feeling of loss within my images.