MONETARY ORNAMENT
The printed works in this series are derived from specimens of machined engraving used to ornament the early U.S. federal currency. The source material (pictured right) was created on a geometric lathe by unidentified operators of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington D.C. The re-designs have been modified according to a principle of extrapolation: extending the graphic monetary signifier across the surface of paper so as to imply an ornamental plane of infinite extension. In the context of my research and thesis, extrapolation is a means by which a monetary design is reconfigured to suit a range of printed media. That is to say that a design, once it has acquired graphic currency, may be elaborated and transposed into different materials and applied to a lesser order of documents such as certificates, lottery tickets, advertising tokens etc.
Extrapolations was exhibited at UTS Gallery and at the 15th Tallinn Print Triennial at the Kumu Museum, Tallinn Estonia in 2011.
An essay with artwork can be seen in Cabinet Magazine: PDF.