Printmaking Contemporary Practice
Caroline Shea
My work is centred on my darkest memories, my father’s death. At eight weeks old my father suddenly passed away and my work is my response to my memories surrounding his death. Visually, my work resembles botanical illustrations as I primarily draw my subject matter and then continue to use traditional printmaking techniques. Floral imagery has always been a huge part of my life as my grandmother was a florist and my mother keeps her garden filled with apple trees, scrubs and flowers.
In the last few months I have used flowers as symbols in my work, especially flowers that symbolise death, innocence, and remembrance. Alongside using flowers as symbols, I have done the same thing with my colour palette. I have completely stripped my work of all colours and as a result, my work is subtle tones of grey. By taking colour away from my series of prints it has given my work a bleak and delicate appearance. I hope to achieve an installation that captures the grey area in my life as my series of prints represent my personal memories. Recently I have introduced text into my practice as another element to enhance the idea of childhood. I am primarily using quotes from childhood favourite films and books such as The Secret Garden, The Lion King and the Harry Potter series. I have taken quotes as I related many of these characters as a child and they have helped me come to terms with my father’s passing.