Artist Statement
Simone Pfister
Handmark Gallery, November 2011

Arcadia

The work in this exhibition explores themes of nature and femininity, and is part of a continuing visual investigation into ideas associated with exploration, collection, home and domesticated nature; the exotic and the familiar. I have always been interested in the interconnectedness of the natural world and this work indulges my fascination with the tradition of natural history exploration.

As a printmaker, I am passionate about stone lithography. It is a traditional process which involves drawing directly on to a specially ground stone and requires a series of technical steps in order to make a successful print. To print the image, the stone is repeatedly inked and run through a press exerting approximately one ton of pressure across a thin bar. Once the edition of prints is made, the image is ground off manually, and the stone can be used again for a new image.  The stone slowly collects a small history of images been and gone.

As well as producing edition prints I use the printed image in multiple, cutting and stitching to create new images. Stitching has become integral to my art practice. The involvement of stitching, another traditional technique, though this one traditionally female, brings an interesting dynamic to the finished artworks. Usually the stitched pieces take the form of a dress, a reference to the feminine, to presence and absence but also exploring the idea that the spaces at the surface of our body are those which tell our stories.