Zachary Foster

MySpace Triptych

These took it outta me. Whenever I start printing a project that I really want to do, I have the tendancy to kill myself with working hours until I see the final image. I’m trying to change this, and become more patient and work a bit slower so I don’t make hasty mistakes, which I practiced a bit with this one more than others, but it was still like 4 consecutive 10-hour studio days leading up to the completion of these, because of course I had to make it a triptych, each with it’s own process print, sigh... but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, would rather be doing nothing else. For a while, I’ve been obsessed with just blocks of colour with lots of empty space in works. Think Composition 2 by Piet Mondrian, or Homage To The Square by Josef Albers. I wanted to explore these forms and bring my own style into them. I did so by incorporating photographic process prints alongside a deconstructed figure, paired with pops of colour. There’s something about pulling those large flats of colour that is so satisfying. I feel my eyes light up when I pull them and lift the screen and see this stark contrast between everything else on the page and this block. I’m not sure what it does to my psyche, but it’s certainly noticeable. The figure seen across this series is a model shot on film, and when I first got these images into a workable format, I was pretty stumped because they were shot in a low-light environment, were super noisy, and, honestly, quite unattractive to work with from a print perspective. So I decided to destroy. Taking only slight skin tones, which resulted in this shape being created, that’s somewhat hard to decipher at first glance, and the noise of the film photograph really left me with this gorgeous absence of any colour at all, which I loved and allowed the blocks to create even more contrast. The title “MySpace” (which has nothing to do with the website but may share the same philosophy) comes strictly from the feeling I get when I look at this work. How the abstract figure is almost reaching in to once again find its reality, but is then obstructed by further but simplified abstraction. It’s still searching and needs to be patient, but I’m not sure it wants to search; it may be comfortable with how it is and where it’s at. This ethereal figure has developed its own environment within something created to allow it to escape. Interesting thoughts behind this one.... even difficult for me to put into words. Finally, can we talk about that damn reg!!! Figure lining up perfectly with cmyk! CMYK NO REG perfect rosette! Block perfectly lining up with CMYK! (orange and green yes, blue is aite). This took so so much patience and im very proud of the technicalities needed to produce this print, if anyone reading this screenprints YOU KNOW I entered hell and came out unscathed (for the most part). One step closer to mastering the art of the mesh.

“The title “MySpace” (which has nothing to do with the website but may share the same philosophy) comes strictly from the feeling I get when I look at this work. How the abstract figure is almost reaching in to once again find its reality, but is then obstructed by further but simplified abstraction. It’s still searching and needs to be patient, but I’m not sure it wants to search; it may be comfortable with how it is and where it’s at. This ethereal figure has developed its own environment within something created to allow it to escape. Interesting thoughts behind this one.... even difficult for me to put into words.”