Truth (i), Letterpress and block print, ed. 7.
Selected to be part of the Royal Academy Summer show 2026.
In our current global society finding ‘truth’ is increasingly difficult. The extensive use of AI, social media, their algorithms and the interconnectedness of the globe, conspires for truths to be lost among the rhetoric, noise and manipulation. Censorship of these ‘free’ medias is also endemic in the algorithms, whether through over promoting areas of interest to leave individuals in loud echo chambers, or shutting down dissenting voices through intimidation or government control. This is coming from all sides, left and right, governments and individuals. It has also never been more visually evident than in the Epstien files, where selective redactions have shuttered out truth under the guise of protecting the victims.
The premise of this body of work is to use layering as a metaphor relating to misinformation, translation and censorship. In Truth (i),I printed a quote in letterpress on the paper which reads ‘The Truth is a Revolutionary Act’. This is then redacted/obscured/covered by a blockprint of black ink. It is part of a series which, using analogue techniques, considers how facts are covered or distorted and become obscured creating mistruths (lies). The truth, however, will always remain underneath the ink.
In addition, although the quote itself, increasingly makes sense in the current global political climate, it is itself a misquote, wrongly attributed to George Orwell and often used as his in the mainstream media and podcasts. I enjoy this fact, as it underlines the increasing importance (necessity) of cross checking facts over and above what the digital tells us is true.
A Discussion in Colour about how Facts are Distorted by Changes in Emphasis or by Mistruths (Lies) Known or Unknown.
LetterPress, Blockprint, 2024
Mis- and Disinformation together with censorship have been a method of disruption for aeons, no more so than today, where it is very evident that the Democracies in which many of us live and the freedoms we have are threatened.
Having researched this, including the mistranslations of Darwin's Origin of the Species, Russian meddling during the Spanish Civil War, through to the mayhem that is the present day, where it is of pandemic proportions, this work gives pause and an opportunity for reflection through the analog.
I used Letterpress, an original form of information dissemination and printing the written word, together with colour blockprint to 'colour' the words printed: original text is covered, word order is changed or removed, and by implementing these apparently small changes the impact and ultimately the meaning of each piece is altered.
Ideally this would work would fill a room, with many iterations (some true using multiples from originals and others fake), but that needs funding. However, this exhibit is the largest yet, shown in a recent group exhibition In Translation with colleagues at the Handbag Factory, London, May 2024
