Gridlock. Limited edition of 12 screenprints on paper.

2023

What do you see first in this print?

Get close, and you might see the halftone dots that make up the image.
Step back, and the shape of cars in traffic might emerge, headlights shining under a canopy of sunlights and clouds.
Stare too long and a grid pattern (in screen printing terms, we call this a moiré effect) comes into focus and breaks the image down again…

With this print I wanted to explore the notions of repetition and patterns. I liked this photo as it oscillates between the mundane urban reality of a traffic jam, and the promise of something more, something bigger: the clouds looming behind the cars, the sunset turning the sky a golden hue.

I picked a large halftone, so that the pattern would be even more prominent than usual. I hadn’t bargained on the moiré appearing. Of course, printing with halftone always carries the risk of a moiré artefact appearing, but using the right angle and size for the dots normally avoids it.

Here, it felt like letting it happen was exactly the right thing. Whether the print is seen from afar or up close, the image vacillate between patterns, the brain constantly trying to prevent the cars and clouds from dispersing and transforming into dots and motifs of colour on the page.

A metaphor, maybe, for our urban lives always faltering on the edge of reality, and threatening to escape.