Methods

Edited Version

Project #1: Untitled (48.847930, -123.291921)

What

A series of photographs of ’drawings’ printed on voile cotton fabric. The ‘drawings’ were made by frottage, a drawing technique. The word frottage comes from the French word frotter, “to rub” and was invented by the Surrealist artist Max Ernst. These were made in 2018 during a residency on Coast Salish territories, called Slow Waves Small Projects. The images look monochromatic at first glance but at closer inspection they are in fact colour images of black and white ‘drawings’. The drawings are in graphite. They are 4 x 6 ft (121.92 x 182.88 cm). They are hung on the wall with two metal pins on the top corners. A few pieces have the images aligned in the centre, some not at all. They all have a white border on all four edge of the fabric. One piece is fully covered by a drawing but does not have the same kind of mark making applied. The images are of a boulder, moss, lichen, grass, bark, dandelion, and stinging nettle found on the residency site. The process of frottage transform these organic materials to textures, lines, scribbles, patterns, or shapes and due to this most do not completely resemble their original with the exception of the fourth image containing bark. To touch the land was to create muscle memory. The word frottage comes from the French word frotter, “to rub” and was invented by the Surrealist artist Max Ernst.

How

This project utilized frottage and this technique requires an object or subject of uneven surface or texture. With paper over the object and a mark making tool – in this case charcoal and graphite was used – to reproduce an image by rubbing with the materials. The originals were made in an 8.5 x 11 inch notebook. Each image was scanned on a flatbed scanner at a high resolution dpi. The scans were sent to a fabric pattern-making factory that also made custom fabric prints. Instead of printing a pattern, the image was enlarged and centred on the fabric to produce only one print and not repeated. The pieces were then steamed and hung up.

Why

This project was created during my residency on Coast Salish territories of the Lekwungen, Snaw-Naw-As (Nanoose), Scia-new (Cheanuh), T’Sou-ke, Malahat, W̱SÁNEĆ, S əwaθn Məsteyəxʷ (Tsawwassen), and the Hul’qumi’num Mustimuhw (Hul’qumi’num speaking people) including Stz’uminus (Chemainus), Cowichan, Halalt, Lake Cowichan, Lyackson, and Penelakut nations, and known by settlers as Mayne Island, BC, Canada. The residency did not have a theme but the discussion of the land kept coming up in many ways. Indigenous peoples have been fishing by the Island as long ago as 3000 BC. It was a gathering place and resting place for many territories as it was a mid-way point between Vancouver Island, the home of the Kwakwaka'wakw (also known as the Kwakiutl), Nuu-chah-nulth, and Coast Salish peoples and the mainland. The island colonial history dates back to the 18th century. John Aitken, a two-spirited elder raised on the island was invited to share some of these stories. He spoke about the importance of land acknowledgements and its significant to Indigenous peoples to work towards decolonizing the land. This brought me into questioning how do you document a place without taking a photograph? How can you capture a feeling from memory? What gestures of decolonization can I make as an uninvited guest and settler? Creating a relationship with this landscape informed my process. Rubbing is a loving gesture.

First Version

Project #1: Untitled (48.847930, -123.291921)

What (200 words max) A series of photographs of ’drawings’ printed on voile cotton fabric. They are 4 x 6 ft (121.92 x 182.88 cm). They are hung on the wall with two metal pins on the top corners. A few pieces have the images aligned in the centre, some not at all. They all have a white border on all four edge of the fabric. The images look monochromatic at first glance but at closer inspection they are in fact colour images of black and white ‘drawings’. The drawings appear to be made from graphite or another mark making tool. One piece is fully covered by a drawing but does not have the same mark making technique applied. The images are abstracts with the exception of the fourth image that resembles a tree or bark.

How (200 words max) The ‘drawings’ were made by frottage, a drawing technique. The technique requires an object or subject of uneven surface or texture. With paper over the object and a mark making tool – in this case charcoal and graphite was used – to reproduce an image by rubbing with the materials. The originals were made in an 8.5 x 11 inch notebook. Each image was scanned on a flatbed scanner at a high resolution dpi. The scans were sent to a fabric pattern-making factory that also made custom fabric prints. Instead of printing a pattern, the image was enlarged and centred on the fabric to produce only one print and not repeated. The pieces were then steamed and hung up. These were made in 2018 during a residency on Coast Salish territories, called Slow Waves Small Projects. The images are of a boulder, moss, lichen, grass, stinging nettle, and dandelions. Each image is abstracted from its original by the enlargement of the fabric print.

Why (200 words max) This project was created during my residency on Coast Salish territories of the Lekwungen, Snaw-Naw-As (Nanoose), Scia-new (Cheanuh), T’Sou-ke, Malahat, W̱SÁNEĆ, S əwaθn Məsteyəxʷ (Tsawwassen), and the Hul’qumi’num Mustimuhw (Hul’qumi’num speaking people) including Stz’uminus (Chemainus), Cowichan, Halalt, Lake Cowichan, Lyackson, and Penelakut nations, and known by settlers as Mayne Island, BC, Canada. The residency did not have a theme but the discussion of the land kept coming up in many ways and the Island has a rich history. A two-spirited elder, John Aitken was invited to share some of these stories. He spoke about the importance of land acknowledgements and its significant. This brought me into questioning how do you document a place without taking a photograph? How can you capture a feeling from memory? To touch the land was to create muscle memory. The word frottage comes from the French word frotter, “to rub” and was invented by the Surrealist artist Max Ernst. Rubbing is a loving gesture.