The process of the Skumrask Portals
To me, drawing is a tool of closeness. Through drawing, I feel that an unconscious visual world has the opportunity to be visualized. So I start the work with the portals by drawing in charcoal. I photograph the charcoal drawings to continue working with them digitally. The final image consists of many layers of composite patterns. I want the pattern to break free from the drawings, but still possess their original essence. When I have reached that special point when something with the image both baffles and surprises me, the image is printed as a Fine Art print. There is only one copy, one original, of each portal print.
To make the frame, I have first made a plaster original by turning it in a hand-made lathe. I've then made a silicone mold of this original. Each frame is casted by hand, with jesmonite and fiberglass, in this mold. When the cast is hardened, rough and sharp ends are cut off. The frame is milled, using a cnc-mill, so that the glass and the back of the portal can fit into the frame. The frame is then sanded, puttyed and painted before the Fine Art print finally is mounted. Every portal is unique.
