Artist statement: The photograph has long been used as a tool of colonisation. By contrast, this project aims to make digital photographic processes and the making, in itself, Indigenous. Here, the physical surface of the photograph is used as a site for making customary Māori art.
My vantage point is that of a Māori-Australian photographer and weaver. Māori weaving is a link and connection to my Māori heritage and ancestors.
For Māori, the most prestigious garment that can be woven is the kahu huruhuru (feather cloak). For this project, I have made a cloak using emu feathers in combination with customary Māori weaving techniques. This cloak has then been photographed, printed and re-woven to make a life-sized, three-dimensional cloak, using Māori whatu/cloak weaving techniques.
www.kirstenlyttle.com.au
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.
