Joahanna WICKRAMARATNE
Untitled
Joahanna WICKRAMARATNE
Caulfield Grammar School, Wheelers Hill
VCE Studio Arts 3 & 4
Artist statement: Identity constraint explores the theme of ‘stagnant identity’. I wanted to explore the physical representation of how our self-expression is hindered through the way we, as a society, hold one another back with our banal perceptions of people and culture. The hands are a metaphor for the force of society pulling us back. The claustrophobic framing and repetition of hands is intended to communicate the idea of encroaching darkness. We are pulling each other back into a void of darkness.
The pandemic has unbound the thread that stitches us together and we are fighting our way to regain a sense of who we are after so much has been taken from us. I have felt that we are collectively facing a state of stagnation, not only in our day-to-day lives but how we treat others and ourselves. My work also allowed me to speak out about how I have always felt stuck in the way I can express myself, out of the fear that society won’t accept me. Now more than ever, I feel this tension in society and the voices of those who want to be heard, suppressed.
Also known as Giclee prints or bubble-jet prints, pigment ink-jet prints are generated by computer printers from digital or scanned files using dye-based or pigment-based inks. A series of nozzles spray tiny droplets of ink onto the paper surface in a precise pattern that corresponds to the digital image file. In dye-based prints the ink soaks into the paper, whereas in pigment-based prints the ink rests and dries on top of the paper surface.
Whilst the term is broad, pigment ink-jet prints have come to be associated with prints produced on fine art papers. They are the most versatile and archival method of printing available to photographers today. A wide variety of material on which an image can be printed with such inks are available, including various textures and finishes such as matte photo paper, watercolour paper, cotton canvas or pre-coated canvas.
