Working Method | English
Lola Läufer, 2014
WORKING METHOD
Within my work I’ve been creating inkjet prints that appear like paintings. Experimenting with an inventory of images I'm morphing photographies into geometric, abstract patterns. Those digitally designed templates are then applied on white silk via usual inkjet printers.
The delicate texture of the silk is still tough enough to be handled in various printing processes.
In order to work with desktop-printers the material is folded to paper size and run through the printer several times. The form of the rectangle is a function of the printer limits, that develops a grid which emerges whenever the neighbouring and rarely in sync prints overlap one another. Finally the printed silk is unfolded, straightened and mounted on acrylic glass.
Using a reduced pastel colour palette makes my pictures appear light, enhanced by the misty
airiness of the silk they convey the impression of floating. The combination of the fine fabric with
a carrier of colourless acryl glass increases the transparency and generates a frosted, translucent surface with exceeding luminance.
The work begins with the visual idea. The initial motif however takes its own way during the development process; for the line between the picture I have chosen and what technology has
willed is constantly blurred. The struggle between the printer and the inappropriate material leaves
its traces: drips, streaks, gaps and misalignments illustrate the unpredictable elements within my
work. It’s the imperfection that results by printer jams, or leaking ink, that makes the prints more painterly. Thus the works are records of their own making within which purposeful accidents
create unique and unrepeatable pictures.
SQUARES SERIES
The original motif of each work in this series is the same – a simple plain-coloured square.
Beginning with a similar initial situation of taking the same conceptual basis, each square is
printed in a different colour and by the use of another printer. The diversity among the particular pictures within this series is realised by the various machines, each creating other imperfections. While one printer squeezes and intensifies the colour, the other integrates drips and blurs or
leaves gaps of blank areas. This approach starts with one similar, plain structural shape but
results in a series of very differing minimalistic patterns.
PRESENTATION
The acrylic plates will be mounted on the wall by attaching two satin stainless steel clamps
both at the top and bottom. This results in a 25 mm gap between wall and picture, enhancing
the transparency and the floating impression.
PRINTS ON PAPER
The inkjet prints on paper develop synergistically to the prints on silk and acrylic glass. Each work
on paper corresponds to one acrylic work – for the paper accompanies the silk as support during the printing process. Layer per layer the picture enhances on the paper – filtered by the overlying silk. And just like the motif expands on the silk, it condenses into the depth of the paper.
Lola Läufer, 2014