Featured Artist - Geoff Chaplin

Geoff Chaplin is a British born artist living and working in Hokkaido, Japan.

When he was a child his father – an artist – used to take him sketching and painting. This was something he enjoyed but his skill level only developed to the “must try harder” stage. Nevertheless this installed from an early age an understanding of composition and graphic elements and it was also from this time that he became aware of and used Winsor & Newton art materials.

“My dream was to become a research scientist. That didn’t happen but on the way I picked up a training in scientific photography which reinforced my interest in visual arts.” In his school years he built a camera (using glass plates – remember those? No, I though not) and has been using cameras ever since. His photographic work is based around large and ultra-large format cameras – the type with bellows, a black cloth cover and a focussing screen on the back.

The work of Geoff Chaplin

Discontented with the trend towards digital imaging and infinitely repeatable ‘perfection’ he began seeking an alternative printing process – something which had a character and life of its own, and something which preferably was not repeatable. “Gum printing” turned out to be the process he was seeking. Dating from the very early days of photography – discovered in the 1830s – it became popular around 1890-1920 among the pictorialists and photo-secessionists for the painterly nature of the images.

The process involves painting a mixture of watercolour paint, glue and a chemical on watercolour paper which is then left to dry. It is then exposed under a black and white negative by contact printing in sunlight (or using another ultraviolet source). The print is then washed in water to reveal an image. Usually several coats of pigment are required - entailing repeated painting, exposure and drying typically taking between a week and two weeks to produce a single print. The final print is affected by many variables: some controllable (such as pigment colour and strength, and printing time) some uncontrollable or difficult to control (such as humidity, water quality and the way the watercolour flows). The final print reflects not only the chosen subject but also the hand of the artist and the hand of nature.

Geoff’s theme for most of his work is transient existence. Subject matter is often decaying buildings or objects. Old farm buildings near where he lives are one of his favourite topics: hand built by their owners using available materials, each building has a unique design and character. As the owner ages and gives up farming the building falls into disuse and eventually collapses or is demolished to reduce property tax. In the process of decay the character of the building is strengthened not weakened. Geoff feels that gum printing is a perfect match for this subject matter.

Venice

Find out more at http://www.geoffgallery.net/