The Drawn Serigraph: An Investigation Through Portraiture

Turpie, Edward Jonathan (2025) The Drawn Serigraph: An Investigation Through Portraiture. Doctoral thesis, Birmingham City University.

Preview	Text Edward Jonathan Turpie PhD Thesis_Final Version_Final Award MAY 2025.pdf - Accepted Version Download (75MB)
Preview	Text Edward Jonathan Turpie PhD Thesis Catalogue.pdf - Accepted Version Download (41MB)

Abstract

This research interrogates contemporary creative practice methods that contribute to the making of meaningful fine art portraiture. The research outputs include a written thesis, an exhibition of portraits, preparatory work and a catalogue of case studies detailing the portrait-sharing exchange. The context is that the smartphone, with its inbuilt camera capabilities, is becoming a human appendage and one that requires critical analysis and applications beyond the ‘selfie’. The core question inquires, ‘How can artists contribute meaningful printed portraits in the saturated world of smartphone digital portraits?’ The answer becomes located in a slower methodology of considered handmade marks that carry the labour of their making through serigraphic printmaking and shared approval processes.

The practice-based methodology offers a framework of research positing four areas of contribution to new knowledge. Firstly, signposting new insights into the use of discreet methods of photography made by artists and photographers as material foundations for their works; secondly, ethical considerations surrounding the use of discreet smartphone photography for Fine Art portraiture; thirdly, interrogation of the difficult terrain of retrospective consent methods; and finally, artists’ serigraphy and drawn mark-making employing drafting films and transparent substrates for
serigraphic silkscreen printmaking. The completed printed portraits, at first glance, appear drawn, comfortably sitting within the conventions of observational drawing. However, this deception is part of a deeper discourse whereby both the viewer and the subject become part of a layered process that is both physical and theoretical. The research methodology involves an in-depth dissection of the rich ethical dilemma of consent that exists between the artist and the observed individual when the subject has unknowingly become the topic of the artist’s gaze.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Dates:	Date Event 12 May 2025 Accepted
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Portrait, meaningful, serigraphy, silkscreen, smartphone, drawing, printmaking, consent, ethics
Subjects:	CAH25 - design, and creative and performing arts > CAH25-01 - creative arts and design > CAH25-01-02 - art CAH25 - design, and creative and performing arts > CAH25-01 - creative arts and design > CAH25-01-04 - cinematics and photography
Divisions:	Doctoral Research College > Doctoral Theses Collection Faculty of Arts, Design and Media > College of Art and Design
Depositing User:	Louise Muldowney
Date Deposited:	22 May 2025 09:41
Last Modified:	22 May 2025 09:41
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16393