Julian Laffan

Working Thesis Title: Tracing the Grain: Locating the narrative life of the tree in the woodblock

Supervisors: Associate Professor Robert Wellington, Dr. Rebecca Mayo, Dr. Kate Warren

   This practice-led research examines the woodcut through exploring the liminality between the woodblock matrix, the print and the tree. I am investigating traces of animate life within woodblocks to reveal a more-than-human perspective in conjunction with our own, shaping material and how the lives of trees shape our understanding and identity. Focusing on the woodblock as a remnant of a living being reorients the print to re-consider this matrix with the lives of trees and our entangled relationship with materials. Taking a multi- perspectival awareness considers the role of the woodblock as a container of time and information considering the social connective role of trees to the story of the woodblock in a multi-species way.