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Reasons

documentary heritage
  • Description

    Screenprint, printed in colour, from three screens (ink for the “border” text is printed in transference ink) on paper. "Helen Johnson began looking through the AWM [Australian War Memorial] archives for different images related to the FWW [First World War] but didn't feel comfortably focussing on a specific record.

    After several weeks of looking at a lot of different materials, she started thinking about the search history in her browser as a subjective path that she had taken through this vast and complex subject, and this in itself became the subject matter for the print. Johnson copied this search history into a document, and adjusted it so that it formed a frame around the four edges of the paper. The text is small, on the edge of readability, until studied closely, at which point the content emerges. This part of the work has been printed using interference inks which contain metallic pigments that switch between two colours, depending on which angle you look at them. Johnson liked the idea that this serves as a means to acknowledge that, from her perspective, there is no fixed statement being made in this work about what the First World War was, or means to us now, or how it can be looked at." - Australian War Memorial

  • Other Id

    4116 (Presto content ID)

    PD-2019-9-6 (Reference Number)

    PD-2019-9-6 (accession number)

    ACQ-2018-41 (Acquisition number)

  • Department

Images and documents

Catalogue

  • Object Type
  • Name/Title
    Reasons
  • Primary Maker
  • Date
    2015
  • Physical Description

    760 x 560mm on Rives BFK paper

  • Level of Current Record
    Child
  • Is Part Of
  • Subject Category
  • Provenance Details
    All of the printmaking was carried out at the Megalo Studio in Canberra between May 2014 and June 2015, under the technical oversight of printmaker John Loane.
    The prints exist in an edition of 20, the others having been distributed to similar cultural institutions. This set was offered as a gift to Auckland Museum by the Australian War Memorial in 2018.
  • Public Access Text

    Edition of 20

  • Subject Notes
    Artist's bio:
    "In her work, Helen Johnson has explored the ongoing formation of Australian identity and the relationship between personal and official histories. Incorporating a range of techniques, Johnson’s paintings take a provisional approach to debates surrounding the nexus of national identity, everyday culture and political life in Australia. Painting serves as a critical departure point for her practice, working beyond language to encircle a range of contemporary issues. With a strong interest in testing the limits of her approach, Johnson layers iridescent paints and gloss medium between thick swathes of paste-like acrylic. Since graduating from RMIT, Johnson has participated in residencies in Germany and Norway as well as a studio residency at Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne, 2004." - Australian War Memorial
  • Copyright
    All rights reserved
  • Last Update
    20 Jun 2023

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