Marking a surface, as a system of communication, has lost little of its relevance today; the means may be more varied but the essence of the act remains fundamentally unchanged. My work is a continuation and a disruption of this process. It examines the history of mark making in the context of drawn, written and programmed language. Using present-day and historical data as research material, I investigate modes of inscription, replication and transmission. Drawing is a tactile media, predominantly of the hands.
I employ obsolete office copying materials in making my work; carbon paper, typewriter film and wax stencil paper. The binary nature of much of the work is the result of following the logic of these materials; it explores the relation between the original and its copy, sharing characteristics and appearance with print. Now, foregrounding manual and mechanical mimeograph duplicators, print has become an active medium in my work. Currently I am exploring the artist book as a space of exhibition, a way to disseminate, promote and distribute artwork.
Departure, carbon on paper 120 x 150 cm. Image from The Carlisle Pier Residency 2006–10. The Carlisle Pier, built in the 1850s in Dun Laoghaire, was a main point of departure and emigration from Ireland. The building was demolished in 2009. This project examined the history of the site and its social, political and psychological links to emigration.
My proposal for Ports, Past and Present is to produce a series of mimeograph postcards that will address cultural, natural and heritage tourism. As the ‘Irish Sea artist’, I will make work relating to all of the ports: Dublin Port, Holyhead, Rosslare, Fishguard and Pembroke Dock.
The postcards for Dublin Port focus on trade and the movement of goods. I took a boat trip on the Liffey, viewing the port from the sea, after which I selected two images to work with.
Julie Merriman explains the technical processes that she makes use of in her work, and discusses the first postcards that she has made for the Ports Past and Present project. She also talks about her Carlisle Pier residency in Dun Laoghaire.
