Artwork
True Identity- Fingerprint #1
True Identity- Fingerprint #1 is a print by Nicola Styan. It dates from 2010 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
Nicola Styan’s 2010 screenprint True Identity, Fingerprint #1 presents a stark composition of a human head rendered entirely in dense, black fingerprint motifs against an unadorned white field. The silhouette includes two vacant ovals that function as eyes, giving the figure a minimalist, mask‑like presence. The work bears the artist’s signature, title and edition number on the margin.
Subject & Meaning
The image reduces a facial form to the repetitive loops of fingerprints, suggesting a dialogue between individuality and anonymity. By substituting conventional facial features with biometric marks, the piece invites contemplation of how personal identity is recorded, reduced, and perhaps obscured in contemporary surveillance culture.
Technique & Style
Executed as a screenprint, the work relies on a single, bold ink layer to transfer the fingerprint pattern onto paper. The thick, dark lines fill the entire head shape, while the surrounding surface remains pure white, emphasizing contrast. The use of actual fingerprint textures as a visual vocabulary aligns the piece with conceptual approaches that foreground process over representation.
History & Provenance
Created in 2010, the print is part of a limited edition series indicated by its numbering. It is documented as being signed by Styan, confirming its authenticity within the artist’s printmaking output of the early 2010s. The work has been exhibited in institutions that collect contemporary prints, though specific exhibition history is not detailed in the source.
Artist & collection
Artist
This artist makes print-based works that play with identity and evidence. Look for True Identity, Fingerprint #1, a 2010 print where layers of ink form the repeating shape of a single fingerprint. There’s no movement…
