Libby Hague fosters a multi-media practice with particular focus on video and print installation. Her recent endeavours have incorporated exploratory translation of augmented reality (AR) based visual vocabulary into analog artistic disciplines. When presented with production of a new print edition for the 2022 Smokestack Quarterly, Libby took the opportunity to further experiment with these investigations. Describing the creative process of her sugar lift aquatint Conga, Libby shares:
Through my participation in a recent project*] I was introduced to AR – a strange and slippery 3D world where solids move through one another with the ease of imagination. The profound strangeness of AR inspired a series of watercolours (a more agile medium than the woodcuts I usually do). I painted with a quick brush to keep pace with the small dancers, blending the naive and the erotic, exploring ideas of transformation and sexuality.
Having worked on watercolours for several months, when the opportunity arose to work with Laine on a small etching, I was happy to agree. I wanted to discover how my ideas would transform in intaglio [printmaking]. As a printer, I also wanted to see what it’s like to work with another. I was lucky; I found it to be both a luxury and a lesson (I will now buy clean felts). Laine is a gifted, careful, focused and preternaturally optimistic printer. The process has been a pleasure!
