Print Contemporary Practice

Ella Gallagher

Absence and Presence

My work focuses on exploring, through visual strategies, ideas relating to extinction and the concepts of absence and presence, (with particular reference to the animal or natural world).

The idea of creating beautiful imagery that exists in contrast to its conceptual meaning is a prime focus within my work, creating tension between visual and concept.

Through my research I have discovered a main focal point surrounding the light and sound pollution within cities and built-up areas and how it has affected its wildlife, in particular, its birds.

Through various methodologies I have aimed to achieve a delicacy and fragility to the work in order to represent the vulnerability of nature. As well as this, I aimed to represent the chaos and stress experienced by these birds due to both the sound and light pollution. The darkness that appears in my work is present due to birds increased activity at night in urban areas due to too much loud noise in the day as well as the eternal light of the city keeping them awake and interfering with their natural body clock. Thus, alternatively light has also become an important aspect of this project.

I have experimented with audio, researching sound wave patterns which explore the adaptations of an urban bird’s song and compares it to that of a rural bird.

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