Lode Star

A Lode Star is a guiding star that serves as a navigational point of reference, and is an appropriate title for this artwork, which originated as a hand-pulled print on paper using a sugar lift-ground etching and aquatint process.

Linking traditional print making with current technology has led to new discoveries I hadn’t expected when I first began experimenting in 2014 with this painterly approach to print making, also favoured by Howard Hodgkin.

Unexpectedly, these early prints provided a rich seam of source material for the development of new kaleidoscopic photographs some 4 years later. This small collection of Star Gates. including Lode Star, Pulse Star, and Solaris is a natural extension of my interest in sacred geometry and complements the innovative Light Codes collection which began as original paintings.

Traditional print making is a tried-and-tested but centuries-old technology so it’s been fun to explore what’s possible in the digital ear with manipulating the final images with current day technology.

In the end, very little has changed apart from duplicating and mirroring the original, but it means that this is artwork image exits only in this format.

I’ve chosen to present the Star Gates collection as a limited edition of digital c-print (chromogenic-print) on aluminium with a UV protective coating. And I rather like the contemporary nod to the original metal etching plate from which they were first created.