Polly Brown On Pushing the Boundaries of a Medium
Project: 3 Lines, 2021
Words & Photography: Polly Brown
I often use recurring material themes such as wood, water or smoke but I had never incorporated them into prints before. I wanted to stretch beyond the images and start to incorporate sculptural elements into the works themselves. I imagined one work having a wood block above the print, another a puddle of pewter seeping out of it.
There were problems to be solved for every piece. For example, I wanted to create a soot cloud on the inside of the glass frame for one of the works. This involved working out exactly how long you could hold a burning rag close enough to make the stain without heating the glass to the extent that it breaks.
I learnt a lot in this process—from valuable lessons of practical nature to how important it is to have the right people by your side.
Explore pushing the boundaries of your medium to expedite your learning.
Polly Brown is a London-based, British photographer with a multidisciplinary practice combining print series, film and book works.
Project credits
Recently shown at Timothy Taylor Nyc as part of the group show Reconfigured, curated by Rose Easton.
