After looking at the work of Mandy Payne and seeing how she uses materials to reflect the subject matter of her images, I gave some thought as to how I could introduce into my practice some new materials to reflect my areas of interest and open up some new ways of working.
Thinking about factories and the cement works at South Ferriby in particular, I felt that the overriding experience of seeing the huge, man-made group of industrial buildings was the impact of the use of steel for its construction. The buildings are powerful, both in size and use of materials, which give the whole structure sturdiness and solidity. Light plays off the surface areas and emphasises the angular blocks of buildings, the roundness of containers and the connecting chutes between them (see photograph below).
Looking from afar, the site is a mass of shapes - tubes, rectangles, squares, planes and curves. I therefore thought that a good idea would be to capture a close-up view and really emphasise the materials from which the factory is made by being selective in choosing to depict a confined area.
Process
I knew that steel was a material that could be used for etching, but that it was not very popular. I did some research and discovered that the reason was that steel produces a very dark image, and light tones are very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. However, as I considered that the connection between the material of the actual buildings and the use of steel as a plate for a print would be a great idea. I decided to experiment.
I managed to locate a decent sized piece of steel and thought further about the concept. One of the attractions and ambiguities of the factory site is its setting in a rural landscape. As I wanted to make a close up view of the structure, I thought of how I could convey the contrast between the hard landscape and the natural setting. The steel would produce a somewhat "clinical" effect and as I had walked along the river bank and looked up at the buildings, I realised that I was surrounded by the early signs of spring. I saw the factory set behind some branches of rustic twigs with fat buds about to burst open, and imagined that a print based on this view would enable me to contrast the two features of the site quite well.
I put a soft ground (wax-like substance) onto the steel plate and covered it with thin newsprint paper. I then drew my image onto the paper, and the pencil line dug into the wax below and made a groove. When the image was finished, I placed the steel plate into the etching acid for about half an hour. This was quite a long period to enable the acid to eat into the grooves made by the pencil to create the image.
I then removed the soft ground and inked up the plate . The result is shown below.
Cement Works, South Ferriby, etching on steel
Outcome
As expected, the print is very dark. I did make some highlights on parts of the factory structure and edges of the branches and buds in the foreground. This worked quite well. I think that the use of steel and the soft ground worked well for this experiment. Although the print is dark, I think that it suits the subject matter. The soft ground process suited both the hard lines of the cement works buildings and the strong lines and form of the twigs. The fact that steel was used for the plate adds to the work as a whole, as it links with the concept of using the fabric from which the factory is built.
Future use
This experiment has encouraged me to be more exploratory with my use of materials. I think that if I can think of a connection between the use of certain materials and the choice of subject matter, then that adds to the concept and elevates the outcome. I would definitely use steel again, but not for a delicate image or one where light is of the essence. I think it perhaps would work best for industrial, urban, or dark settings. Similarly, I found that the soft ground I applied allowed me to work well in this instance with the strong lines and shapes. The soft ground was very flexible, easy to work with, and I think produced a good result.
I will look at using other materials to contrast hard and soft landscapes and see how they work out.
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