Print Contemporary Practice
Dawn Perrott
My breed, My Blood
This project focuses on the subject matter of family. Exploring themes of religion, the photograph, History, and Feminism. These themes collectively feed my overall concept. The artwork I make is a perpetual family case study that includes family members deceased and alive. Beech field house has been my family’s residence for approximately 200 years. Four generations of Perrott’s have lived there. I have primary source material from each generation that I use in my art.
I grew up around 3 religions Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland, and the Cooneyites. Like most religions, there’s an element of secrecy but none can compare to the Cooneyites. In my home life questions couldn’t be asked about this religious sect. I’m retaliating against a culture that silences and controls women. My sister Sophie donned my grandfather’s suit, with her bob haircut and gold earrings. My female relatives past and present lived and live within extreme guidelines that would punish these actions still today. As the curious child I was, I began collecting and stashing old photographs, letters, war medals, books, glasses, hymns, bibles, postcards, and biscuit tins. Eventually, this subject matter made its way into my art practice. My practice is heavily concentrated on translating the photograph into print.
My artwork represents my family’s history, their experiences, emotion, and knowledge. I showcase how life is cyclical it travels across time and back again. I work with found, borrowed, and recycled materials and objects. Overlapping two timelines sometimes three I document how cyclical life is with reoccurring images from different decades. I pay attention to the materials I use. Tangibility is a key factor in the experience of my printmaking. I need the viewer to see the physical degradation of the paper.