Ordering My Thoughts Unsuccessfully
It can be chaos in my head: ideas, plans, and unfinished projects all fighting for attention. Things I want to start, things I should have finished. Tasks I feel expected to do. Ideas for improving my code, reorganizing my workspace, changing how I work, or deciding where to take my art next. Experiments waiting to happen. It all tumbles and overlaps, spinning around in a noisy, tangled cloud.
Every now and then, I try to bring structure to it all—to organize my thoughts and shape my life into something coherent. But it never really sticks.
This collection reflects that ongoing struggle.
The works are made with a combination of javascript and glsl and begin with a rectangle that slowly gets divided into smaller rectangles: everything organized, clean, structured, logical. But at some point, the view begins to warp. The lines bend. The logic breaks down. Chaos reasserts itself. Again.
After the digital image has been created, it is processed to convert any smooth gradients into halftone dot patterns—reminiscent of old printing techniques, and a necessary step for transferring tonal variation into a physical relief. I then engrave the image into birch plywood using my (home-built) laser cutter. This produces a tactile surface: a woodblock where the darkest parts of the image remain raised, and lighter areas are recessed.
The wood relief is treated with oil and carefully sanded. The oil helps prevent the wood from absorbing ink unevenly, and the sanding improves the definition of the relief and softens burnt edges left by the laser. Once prepped, the block is inked by hand using a roller, applying ink only to the raised surface.
Finally, I place the inked woodblock face-up in my custom-built cylinder press. A sheet of paper is laid on top, and the whole assembly is rolled through the press, transferring the image with firm, even pressure. Every print in the series is made this way—slowly, manually, and with small variations in inking, pressure, or paper texture.
The result is that no two prints are exactly the same. Each carries its own subtle differences—its own evidence of the process.
