Citizen Cane Toad
Year: 2024
Project Brief
Citizen Cane Toad is a screen printing project that presents a striking mugshot of a cane toad, a powerful symbol of the invasive species crisis in Australia. The artwork features a sign reading "QLD Police Dept," highlighting Queensland as a primary battleground against this environmental issue. The date "08/08/1935" marks the year cane toads were introduced to the country, while the number "200009476" reflects the staggering estimate of roughly 200 million cane toads currently in Australia. Through this piece, I aimed to raise awareness about the ecological impact of invasive species and provoke discussion on the urgent need for conservation efforts to protect native ecosystems.
Process
The process for Citizen Cane Toad began with a detailed digital illustration of the cane toad, capturing its unique features and characteristics. After finalizing the illustration, I broke it down into seven distinct colors and a black key layer, which formed the basis for the screen printing process. This division into layers ensured that each color could be printed separately, allowing for a vibrant and dynamic representation of the toad.
Next came the printing process for Citizen Cane Toad, which involved several meticulous steps to bring the artwork to life. I began by applying a light-sensitive emulsion to a screen, carefully coating it to create a smooth surface for the design. Once the emulsion dried, I exposed the screen to UV light using one of the black positives, which contained the image of the toad. This exposure hardened the emulsion where the light hit, while the areas covered by the black positive remained soft, allowing me to wash them out with water.
This step revealed the stencil of the cane toad, ready for printing. I then applied ink to the screen and used a squeegee to push the ink through the mesh, transferring the image onto the paper beneath. I repeated this process for each color layer, ensuring that the alignment was precise to achieve a cohesive final image. Ultimately, I printed the design onto 30 sheets of paper, creating 30 unique editions, each capturing the vibrant colors and intricate details of the cane toad in its mugshot setting.
Outcomes
The outcome of Citizen Cane Toad included 30 screen-printed editions, with 10 prints in A2 size and 20 in A3. Each print captures the vivid layers and intricate detail of the original design, bringing awareness to the issue of invasive species through a bold and impactful visual.
