I am currently working on a new series for GaffGaff Galleri called TOTEM, which for now consists of four works. We encounter the same eagle four times. It stands frontally and symmetrically, its wings outstretched – the same form, the same figure, surrounded by four different worlds of colour.
I have called the series TOTEM because I see the eagle as a fixed, almost emblematic presence at the centre of a changing world. I am not using the word in the sense of a traditional cultural or religious totem, but as a metaphor for something that remains: a symbolic figure that holds its ground while everything around it changes.
I have drawn inspiration from ancient myths, stone mosaics and stained glass. But I also want the work to carry a visible imprint of the time in which it was created. AI is part of that process – not as the idea behind the work, but as a contemporary tool through which I develop and explore it. From myth and stained glass to AI and brushed aluminium, TOTEM brings an ancient symbolic language into a new technological age.
The works are conceived as UV prints on brushed aluminium.
The eagle remains unchanged, while colour, light and atmosphere transform the world around it. From cool blues and violets through yellow and golden light to intense reds and finally earth tones, bronze and grey, the same image continually takes on a different character.
Repetition is an important part of the idea. The central figure remains recognisable and unchanged, while colour, contrast and surroundings create four different variations on the same theme.
Dark lines divide the surface into fragments of colour and light, while the organic forms surrounding the eagle contrast with its strict geometry. Movement meets stillness, the organic meets the constructed, and change meets permanence.
The next step is to take this further by transferring the images onto brushed aluminium and allowing the structure of the metal to add another dimension. The metal itself will remain visible through parts of the image. Light areas will become silvery, the colours will interact with the cool sheen of the aluminium, and the brushed surface will respond to the light in the room. As the viewer moves, the image will change too.
In this way, the material itself becomes part of the idea behind the work. The variations occur not only between the four images, but also within each image through changing light, distance and viewing angle.
The four works can exist independently, but together they form a single motif in continual transformation.
The eagle remains. The world around it changes.
The next step is to make test prints. The images I am showing below are still at the stage before being printed on brushed aluminium.
The reason I am showing you all this now is that I cannot have test prints made on brushed aluminium here in Davao, where I now live. So I am looking for a few co-conspirators in Europe and/or the USA, where I have access to suitable printing facilities, who would like to get their hands on a 40×40 cm print, ready to hang, for the cost of producing it – in other words, very cheaply.
In return, I would like you to receive the work, look at it under different lighting conditions and give me your honest feedback: Did it turn out the way I imagined it? Does the finished print match what I describe beneath each of the four images below?
This is how I imagine the result:
TOTEM – BLUE
In Blue, the eagle is surrounded by cobalt, turquoise, violet and silver. The cool colours give the image an almost mineral or crystalline quality.
On brushed aluminium, I believe the blues will interact particularly closely with the material itself. The metal will remain visible through parts of the image, introducing a cool, shifting light that changes with the viewer’s position. Against this changing surface, the eagle remains fixed and unchanged.
TOTEM – YELLOW
In Yellow, the image opens towards the light. Yellow and golden tones meet blue and turquoise, creating a brighter and more energetic expression.
The aluminium surface will introduce reflections that cannot be created by colour alone. I hope that as light moves across the metal, subtle shifts in sheen and intensity will appear. At the centre of this changing light stands the same geometric eagle – symmetrical and unchanged.
TOTEM – RED
Red is the most intense of the four variations. Red, orange and deep blue create heat and movement around the strictly geometric eagle.
The energy of the colours contrasts with the stillness of the figure. At the same time, I hope the brushed aluminium will emerge through parts of the image, introducing a metallic light that shifts with the surroundings and the viewing angle. The idea is that the tension between movement and stillness will become particularly apparent in this variation.
TOTEM – EARTH
In Earth, the colours move towards bronze, copper, ochre, charcoal and silver. Of the four variations, this is where I believe the relationship between image and material will be strongest.
Here, the earth and metallic tones may seem almost to emerge from the brushed aluminium itself. The distinction between depicted texture and physical surface will hopefully become less defined, allowing light to become an active part of the image. While the surroundings change in character, the eagle remains the same.
If you are interested in helping me out with this experiment, send me a message telling me which of the four you like best, and we’ll take it from there. 🙂
Featured image © Eldar Einarson
