My interest in typography was awakened when I discovered early New York graffiti artists in the book Subway Art, that led me to study graphic design at college where I had another epiphany in the letterpress studio. Trying to combine these two seemingly different practices is a key motivation in my work. This piece was inspired by the work of graffiti artist Kase 2, he talked about cutting up letter forms to create completely new styles. Obviously I didn't want to physically cut up my wood type, so I experimented with paper masks to create new typographic forms from letters that had existed in a certain way for decades. I wanted to explore creating fluidity in the typographic composition, from a process that is based on rigidity - the letterforms which are reduced and chopped into become more angular and dynamic. The line work and overlaid type, all printed in metallic ink, add to the sense of motion within the piece.

3 colour letterpress print on 300 gsm cotton rag paper

Heavy Rotations