Inspired by the early modernist artists who experimented in the darkroom making photograms and chemograms, I turned to the digital darkroom to play and experiment with the materials of inkjet printing. Celebrating and exploiting their unique beauty, the inks, materials and processes of the digital darkroom become my subject. This is an ongoing project that I began in 2014.

I begin my process by collecting empty ink cartridges from various professional and consumer inkjet printers and then pour, stamp, rub or roll the unused ink directly onto photo rag paper, allowing the materials to take the lead in the forms they create. These unique drawings are then digitally reproduced (scanned and printed via an inkjet printer) and displayed side by side setting up the tension between the “thing” and the representation of the “thing”. The materiality and appearance of the two prints are similar yet one is generated by chance directly from materials, the other is a photographic clone translated through digital data. One IS something while the other is a representation OF something. The copy is never perfect and when placed beside its source print, the slippage becomes apparent. I invite the viewer to carefully examine the difference between the sensibility of touch and that which is derived from pixels and codes.

I adhere to a system determined in part by myself, and in part by the manufacturer of the printer. Many of the used ink cartridges are gifted to me by fellow artists, bringing a communal aspect to the work.

RITA MAAS

RITA MAAS