Imprint

While scanning some photographs at work, I realized that the resolution of the scanner was high enough to enlarge details – and I was curious how a scanner would read three dimensional objects, so I scanned my hand. Enlarging the scanned image revealed details right down to fingerprints. I changed a fingerprint to black & white and tried overlaying it on different images. Searching for images to underlay the fingerprint, I understood that I needed something else personal for a background, and so tried the fingerprint on various photos – an enlargement of an eye as the background led me to consider the developing picture as a personal statement of identity. Because the graphics were more powerful, I decided to overlay the print on a photo of my family. That particular family group was taken at our father’s ash scattering, and is one of the few times our family was together for a group photograph. I purposefully blurred the background when I painted it, to give the idea rather than the details. I attempted painting the fingerprint over the picture, but realized that it was an impossible task, so opted for a technique of enlarging a photocopy of the print and transferring it to the canvas. The picture came out with its contrast and message intact.