Nif Hodgson
Glendale, California
http://www.nifhodgson.comwww.nifhodgson.com
Light, contour & exciting the cell
2019/2021
Screen-print, letterpress and foil stamp on Japanese Surface Gampi and peach-fuzz textured Curious Touch paper. Drum Leaf binding with a duplexed phase folder and translucent slipcase.
4.25″ x 7.5 “x 0.5”
Artist Statement
‘Light, contour & exciting the cell’ is a series that reflects on the transforming nature of light and its ability to reveal, suggest, and change what and how we see. The drawings collect shadows from unseen objects that fall across unremarkable forms, which then create fleeting structures that do not exist. If not for the unique light and orientations in that moment, these locations and elements would have gone unnoticed.
12 unique images are arranged to progress from immersive shadowy forms, to emerging recognizable shapes, to the spare hints of organic architecture that may still be understood. The book focuses on shadow, light, the senses, and how much the viewer brings to noticing and shaping their surroundings. Matte ink is
screen printed on reflective gampi to create tonal inversions that highlight the flipping of the senses and moments of materialization. As the pages turn, shadowy forms become light, and white objects turn to shadow.
Additional subtle materials, which may be overlooked, are used to engage the senses and chance attention — a translucent slipcase is printed with clear varnish that may only be visible at particular light angles; and white peach-fuzz-textured phase folder and book covers add a tactile quality that will easily mar and record
the viewer’s touch.
The size, shape, and typefaces used for the book are a nod to vintage pocket atlases and their ‘definitive,’ ‘accurate,’ and ‘complete’ surveys of the known world. As individual observations and momentary landscapes are varied and unique, every print is varied and each collection of images is unique.