Appleskin, 2019.

Artist Statement

Sometimes my phone scares me. I’m terrified by the hold it has over me. But it’s also an incredible tool for connection. Having a camera on me at all times excites my desire to document and interpret. And nonetheless, in moments, I still find it a challenge to fully engage with what I experience. Appleskin is an investigation of my relationship with technology, and the connection it has to deeper, original human impulses.

That people are drawn to the digital speaks more to humanity than it does of technology. Virtual tools and experiences are measured by how they affect their users– a wider and wider web is cast to satisfy our thirst for information, and social media is algorithmically designed to hijack the human drive to connect with others.

With this specialisation comes saturation. Everything is dialed up, bigger, better, more, immediate. The apple suggests temptation, envy, and desire, but it also alludes to abundance, glut, and excess. And it has already been bitten.

Sometimes, we are our own serpents.

To make a print is to make an image of something, to take it one step further from reality, to flatten, to emphasise, to virtualise. In that way, digitisation is an inherent act of image-making. It is one step removed from reality. At the same time, the way real experiences are processed, digitised, or abstracted is informed by what elements— what faces— of their truth speak to us. 

This piece was created with a combination of traditional and modern printmaking methods. The image of my hand was processed digitally and screen printed. The prints were made on a clear acrylic screen and are held within the hollow shell of a speaker unit. The speaker’s components, and the other electronics collaged to the case’s backing, were directly printed to render the apple.