Justin Diggle
Bug Drone I, 2020, Screenprint and laser engraving, 20 x 24 inches
“... I vary the order in which the colours are printed and some layers may be thicker than others, and there are often text layers printed/hidden within the flat layers.”
Justin Diggle is an artist living and working in Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). His approach to color is somewhat planned but also serendipitous, and his approach to printmaking is based on methods of collage. His textural and surreal work is created with screenprint, laser engraving, etching techniques, and graphite drawings.
Justin is currently working on a couple of projects. The first is a series of shaped etching plates based on drone images that were initially created as collages. Most of the designs have been inspired by specific surveillance technologies but are not meant to be working models but rather reflect, and draw attention to, the new and evolving way we can be surveilled. There is an element of humor and absurdity in the work.
The second project, although drone-based, is a series of drawings that have taken on an element of camouflage and have a more patterned/abstract approach to the construction of the forms. The drawings are based on a collage-like approach in their composition but are not based on a specific collage. Currently, neither of these projects utilizes color.
What are the direct references, research, or aspects of history that your work includes?
The work in general references the different kinds of surveillance that exist today. Bug Drone I references the ever diminishing size of some drones, their capabilities, and how they may be used. Mining Data II uses an image which is similar to the stance taken when going through an airport scanner, and is a connection to how much personal information we either give up, or is taken from us.
Street View is part of a series of 10 prints, each the same size. This series reflects on a different aspect of surveillance; this one illustrating the use of personal/house cameras. When exhibited, the 10 prints are shown in a grid similar to a bank of CCTV monitors. Surveillance Portrait I is part of a series that depicts those watching, or the artificial entities that collect data.
I have often used bird imagery in my work as a metaphor for those watching, and the dinosaur, a relative of the bird, is a continuation of that, but also to show a more predatory intent.
“Much of my work is based around surveillance, and I was investigating the different ways we are surveilled, recorded or scanned, and I was initially drawn to the images from airport body scanners, and after that to those of baggage scanners.”
Invasive vascular Bio Drone, 2023, Screenprint, 11 x 14 inches
Street View, 2016, Screenprint and laser engraving, 22 x 30 inches
Mining Data II, 2015, Screenprint and laser engraving, 22 x 30 inches
Are there specific associations towards color in your work? What are the direct references, research, or aspects of history that your work includes?
The use of colour in the projects created in the last few years, and shown here, came about quite accidentally. This was a direct result of seeing the colour images from airport luggage scanning machines, and at the same time, experimenting with a laser engraver to create a pronounced texture in prints.
Much of my work is based around surveillance, and I was investigating the different ways we are surveilled, recorded or scanned. I was initially drawn to the images from airport body scanners, and after that, to those of baggage scanners. The colours in these images; transparent blues, greens and oranges are the basis for those used in my prints, sometimes with other colours on the final top layer. Much of my work, particularly the collages, which are the basis for these images, is created within a system or guidelines that I set myself. My use of colour is plotted in a similar way.
“The final print has also been excavated, and layers revealed, which to me connects to the depth of surveillance/scanning or recording that currently exists.”
Drone Puppetry, 2022 Screenprint and laser engraving, 20 x 24 inches
Surveillance Portrait I, 2016, Screenprint and laser engraving, 22 x 19.5 inches
Surveillance Portrait I (Detail), 2016, Screenprint and laser engraving, 22 x 19.5 inches
How does the printmaking process itself relate to how you work with color?
The work here is very much about layering, and for the laser engraved screenprints, this layering is realised in 2 ways. Firstly, by screening layers of flat colour on to a sheet, with each colour layer printed multiple times, and as each new colour is printed so the one before it is completely covered. Ultimately there are about 30 printed layers.
Even though I print multiple sheets, they are not all the same. I vary the order in which the colours are printed and some layers may be thicker than others, and there are often text layers printed/hidden within the flat layers. I also vary how I mix the set colours. The second aspect to layering is then utilised when I laser engrave into the prints. The depth that the laser will burn into the print is based on the different gray values within my image (sometimes converted to a linear halftone) and also by the settings within the machine.
By adjusting my image, and the laser machine’s settings, I am able to remove layers of ink to different depths and this will affect which colours are revealed. Any text layers printed within the image, no matter how subtle, will also influence how the colour layers are revealed.
With each new set of prints I initially test a variety of settings before deciding what I feel is right for any particular image. This is also a way of working within a set of parameters, but ultimately it is what I feel is right that determines the final look of the print. Depending on how the laser engraving turns out, as it is not always quite what I expect, I may then add more screen printed elements around the main image.
I see myself as primarily an etcher, and I am drawn to the tactile qualities of the medium, and it is those qualities that I have also tried to bring to the screenprints, some of which are as textured as a deeply bitten plate. The final print has also been excavated, and layers revealed, which to me connects to the depth of surveillance/scanning or recording that currently exists.