Abstract to International Print Conference; Impact8, Dundee, Scotland 2013

SENSES – CHANGES – MINDS – MOVES by Randi Strand

-Language, signs and sensory experiences are central elements in my works. I have explored and dissected various forms of language signs, and have tried to investigate the relationship between our senses.

A book is a place where different senses meet the artwork.The material and tactile aspects are of great importance. I have explored the technical properties and possibilities of the materials, aiming to make the material a main feautre of the expression, enhancing the visual experience.

The different treatments possible to a paper, enable a temporary or permanent change to its character, a change which can offer a surprising and unpredictable meeting with the content. Embossing, transparency and scrolling let touch, light and shadow play with the illusions of form, color, space and order, and make the image ephemeral.

The fragility of a paper and the actions necessary, may add a ritualistic element to the act of reading a book.
Embossed works without any color leave it to the light to decide whether the image appears or disappears. That challanges and raises an awareness of sight, at the same time as appeling to our tactile sense.

Using transparant papers, like in the books 4#1, each sheet have an impact on the orther sheets, they melt together, making it impossible for the reader to predict the next sheets exact color and motif.

The fact that a paper wants to stick to the form it has been shaped into may make, like in the scrolls, a book act on its own; a true interactive media..

Randi Strand