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My practice explores the curiosities I find within the natural world, researching questions such as ‘what would the dawn chorus look like?’ or whether you can create tree rings from weather data. The common thread running through these enquiries is inquisitiveness.

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Working under the moniker of Ploterre, I ultimately create artwork from environmental data.

 

Using an array of information that describes the topic of research – audio, maps, images or datasets, I analyse these pieces of information to gather insights and patterns within the numbers. I then take these insights and bring them to life through a series of sketches that convey the message. Once I’ve refined the initial drawings, I then translate them into formulas that describe every mark and line on the page. This allows me to then link data to the formulas so that I can recreate these lines and marks directly from the information. 

Whilst I predominately create prints of my work, I definitely see the medium I work with as data, as opposed to paper.  And I solely work with natural materials such as paper, wool or wood. This is from both an environmental viewpoint as well as an aesthetic. Within my printmaking, I am drawn towards traditional printmaking techniques such as letterpress and screen printing, for the same reasons. 

I find a beauty in understanding the process of transferring an image to a page and the hand powered aspect is as sustainable as your arms allow. I also work with risograph printing a lot and am drawn to this for the same environmental and aesthetic reasons. Although it’s machine led, the images are created by printing one colour at a time, which is similar to screen printing. But instead of a screen, risograph prints are created using stencils made from a banana leaf substrate, wrapped around an ink drum. The ink in question is plant (soy) based and comes in a relatively small selection of colours including fluorescent inks. However, as the inks are translucent a myriad of colours can be made from overlaying layers.