In his latest series of collage editions, printmaker Will Maw considers the current global financial climate and draws observations about the state of society, especially in terms of art, money and power. Histoire Naturelle d’Impremerie Economique is a series of digital collage prints inspired in part by the Fountainwell Archive, a ‘universal picture resource’ and printed currency from around the globe. Constructed by printing layer upon layer by passing the paper through the printer over and over again, the prints are dense, intricate works with almost a ‘ghostly’ feel. Often difficult to read, the viewer is easily captivated by the complexity and forced to visually inspect each image, constantly seeing something new in the image. Maw says: “I am trying to find a balance between the contradictions of the machine manufactured, the computer-generated and the hand-made image. There is a self-conscious nod to the manuscripts of medieval book making and the art of the copyist and pre-printing. I’m looking for a convergence of these historical things as well as the contemporary conventions of print publishing, the photographic image and the personal occupation of drawing.” A vast amount of the imagery Maw uses to make the works is taken from banknotes from all over the world, with many including numeral forms and recognisable faces from foreign currency. These are merged with references to 17th and 18th century book illustrations, food packaging and comic book sketches. Old-fashioned anatomical diagrams are fused together with architectural drawings and images from ‘girlie’ magazines, commenting on the close connection between money, sex and power in today’s society.

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