I got this idea one day to try to do something similar to the Matrix movies, where they plug people into the computer via a port in the back of the persons head, or how they download information and memories form suspects in Ghost in the Shell. Basically I wanted to do a piece featuring a woman having information being downloaded into her mind via cybernetic implant. However, I wanted it to look a little lower tech than the other two so I gave the woman a helmet with a bunch of wires coming out of it. Sort of like the old mind transfer machines that mad scientists would invent in old television shows. In order to push the idea that information was being downloaded into her mind I ran the words down and loading through her eyes, like they were flashing on a screen in her head or something. I also thought it made her look like a cyborg.
The method I used for this piece was intaglio; it’s a form of etching, and one of the older forms of printmaking.
This is the plate that I make the prints with. The process for doing an intaglio piece is pretty interesting, involving acid to etch the lines you draw into the plate, making a recess to hold the ink in.
It’s still a work in progress, as you can see additional line hatching was drawn in later to add more value. I’m still currently working on the piece, removing lines from the composition, which is a whole nother process called scraping and burnishing.
