About Shellac

Shellac is a process experiment, in which the colour work and the linework are separated into two distinct fields, and worked on separately, and quite distinctly from each other.

I have a real interest in the idea of generating errors, mistakes and chance happenings, all things which the digital toolset is largely designed to avoid, and to some extent, therefore, become things to be cherished more highly when they occur.

Was it Bruce Man who said cherish your mistakes? It’s an old Zen idea I think, although of course, it becomes a thought that's entirely subverted if you set out to create deliberate errors. There’s an interesting tension there I think.

By separating the tonal linework work of the drawing from the colour work, I was hoping to find something more random, more exciting, more overtly liquid, more subconscious, than the more traditional technique of working out the colour and the line work in tandem can ever allow for. Something that would really pop.

Shellac, therefore, is really an experiment in what may happen when a lot of the traditional rules for composition and production are discarded in favour of a more experimental approach to image making. There's more than a little interest in the language of studio glass here too, of course...

 

Shellac in situ

 

Price and dimensions

Shellac / blacker lacquer is a metallic Lambda photographic print, optionally mounted to Plexiglass and Dibond, and fitted with a hidden subframe, ready to install. The edition may also be fitted with a bespoke, laser cut, Opal 30 Perspex frame.

Work can be supplied unmounted and ready to frame if you’d prefer.

The work is individually signed and numbered verso, with both a unique catalogue raisonné number and the edition number for guaranteed authenticity.

.
From an edition of 12
Image size 74cm H x 74cm W
Artwork only, ready to frame £1,280
Mounted behind Plexiglass and fitted with a hidden subframe £1,600
Mounted behind Plexiglass and fitted with a laser cut Perspex frame £1,800

Purchase this work ⟶

.
Dimensions and framing specs can be varied on request, to suit your space.
Please do get in touch here if you’d like to discuss possibilities ⟶

 
 

Associated works

Previous
Previous

Rubicon / cyan breaker

Next
Next

Shellac / indigo base