Artist statement: Queenstown, on the remote west coast of Tasmania, is known for two things: copper mining and the gravel oval that is home to the local football team. Much like the barren hills that surround the town (a result of smelter fumes and forestry), the surface of the Queenstown oval is harsh. Players leave the field bleeding and battered. After a series of deaths at the Mt Lyell mine, which gripped the community and bought operations to a standstill, it was eventually announced in July 2014 that the mine would close after 130 years as the heart of the community. The future of the town, and the football team, which is mostly made up of miners, is uncertain.
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.
