Aine Scannell

Aine Scannell

I love how illuminated medieval manuscripts such as the Beatus Codices, depicted the realms of heaven and hell or purgatory. The reasons I find them inspiring are not their literal portrayal of such things but because of the idea that these pictorial spaces, represent i.e., ‘atmospheres’ of a particular symbolic significance. Ironically – although these documents are relatively early examples of literacy, it is their non-literal depictions that I have long admired. These wonderful and precious objects are unique in their marriage of Moorish and European visual language – this is what makes them exceptional for me.

And so I create nonliteral depictions that are concerned with existence. Figurative forms are located, in non specific realms often accompanied with the barest of familiar objects. Sometimes these are strategically placed with other hybridized forms, be they inside / outside, behind or underneath. Quite often there is a symbolic resonance, accompanied with the devices of gesture, shape, symmetry, layering, occlusion…………..

I suppose what I am seeking endlessly to achieve the sophistication of surrealistic metaphor as used by artists such as Lorca and Neruda.

I might begin with a found image that possesses something appealing to me. I do not always know what it is initially. Through a mixture of invention coupled with underlying intention and the mark making process, I transform it, to communicate another meaning. It is like a language, which holds a message. I often find that the language of printmaking assists me in my artistic goals.

Through my interaction with the matrix (etching plate, drypoint plate or digital screen) I will produce a form that has its own autographic connotation or signature.

And so it is an ongoing quest that is a marriage between hand and eye, heart and soul which researches and develops visual ideas and forms that integrates and interplays with an exploration and experimentation of materials and process.
The journey continues on………………………

 

Biography

Based in Scotland, she uses printmaking in a combination of new and old technologies to make original prints, installations and artists books.

Exhibited in many international biennial and triennial events – her most recent, being the Artists Book event in Vilnius, as well as the Krakow SMTG Print Triennial and the Douro Biennial in Portugal.

Works have been included in the S.S.A.’s Annual as well as at the Royal Academy’s ‘Open’, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Aine is a featured artist in the book “Printmaking at the Edge” by Richard Noyce, published by A & C Black.