Cabin at Brooks Point, South Pender Island BC - deconstructed early 2021
The Union Steamship Cottages of Bowen Island, BC and other local cabins of the same era have been central to my art for many years. Simple cabin structures like those on Bowen are steadily disappearing from the backwoods and coastlines of BC. In response, I am creating a visual archive recording this modest and often nonconforming style of architecture. To broaden the scope of my research, I would love your help locating and documenting these structures tucked away in our forests across the province. Selected photographs will be used as resource material for this ongoing art project.
COLLECTING IMAGES FOR A NEW PROJECT
I am collecting photographs of cabins + cottages that are:
- located anywhere in BC
- built in 1985 or earlier
- in any condition (rustic or restored)
- current or historical
- brief stories/narratives/history related to the structure
- digital file or physical photograph
THANK YOU! Anyone submitting to the project will receive a hand-printed limited edition print. All contributors will be credited.
HOW TO SUBMIT IMAGES
Email digital files (JPEG, TIFF) to vanessa@vanessahall-patch.ca
If you have existing photographs, I welcome pictures of any quality and format - B+W, colour, digital or analogue.
If you are planning to take new photographs, please see below for a few helpful tips.
Photo-documenting your cabin/cottage:
- centre the cabin in the frame
- capture the whole structure in the frame
- take photos from a few angles (front, side, back)
- take photos from a few distances (close-up, far away)
- photograph on an overcast day or around sunset/sunrise
- take photos at the highest resolution possible
- keep a steady hand or use a tripod to avoid blurring
I can photograph sites close to Bowen, please inquire if interested.
Please contact me if you have any questions!
HOW THE IMAGES WILL BE USED
The images I collect will be used to create several series of hand-printed works on paper and an accompanying “digital artist book” in the form of an interactive website. For examples of works in a similar style and aesthetic, please refer to my earlier print works in the series Kintsugi Cabins and Demolition.
Original photograph - Davies Orchard, Bowen Island BC, Canada Finished piece - Photo etching, screen print + chine collé
ABOUT THE PROCESS
In my works I combine print media processes to create hybrid prints. I love to blend traditional processes with new media. Intaglio, relief, lithography and screen printing are the principal technical processes of printmaking, with digital printing as a more recent contemporary addition.
Inking a photopolymer intaglio plate.
Intaglio: Any printing matrix (copper, zinc, plexi) where ink is held in recessed areas of the matrix. Engraving and etching are examples of intaglio processes. I use photo-etching in my practice, most commonly in the form of photopolymer plates.
Relief: Ink is rolled and printed from the top of the printing matrix (wood, lino). Examples of relief printing are woodcuts, wood engravings and linocuts.
Lithography: A planographic process that relies on grease and water repelling one another. Images are drawn using greasy media on the surface of the matrix (stone or metal plate) and the image to be printed is ink-receptive while the blank area ink-repellent.
Screen printing: A stencil process using a fine mesh stretched over a frame. The stencil is adhered to the screen (paper stencil, photo emulsion) and ink is pushed through openings in the stencil using a squeegee. I often use screen printing to add layers of colour and metallics to my monochromatic intaglio prints.
Thank you to Canada Council for the Arts for support of this project.