Looping Linocut Animation “Cycle”, 2024

“Cycle” is a looping linocut animation that illustrates and audiovisually expresses my idea and point of view about being stuck in a cycle. Breaking habits is difficult, and despite your efforts, if you don’t fully invest in changing your mindset, you will continue to attract and relive similar experiences. Without proper mental work, it’s easy to keep falling into the same hole (in this case aquarium hehe). 

“Cycle” was created as part of my BA thesis at Pallas University of Applied Sciences. The overall aim of my bachelor’s thesis was to combine printmaking and animation to create a looping linocut animation, where every frame has been cut out by hand and printed using two colours. 

Although I based the concept of the animation on my personal feelings and outlooks on the topic, my goal was to be abstract enough to leave room for the viewer to create their own emotional connections with the work. 

The duration of one full “Cycle” loop is 48 seconds, which is also the length of the audio cycle. However, one full loop consists of two animated cycles, as the fish and the seaweed loop lasts 24 seconds. And the 24 second animated cycle consists of multiple 3 second loops of the seaweed and the fish. All are interwoven to work as one never-ending cycle. 

In total, I had to prepare 84 10×10 cm linoleum plates for printing. As a result, I produced 82 signed 15x15cm linocut prints that I photographed and edited into an animation. I also designed a calm but anxious soundscape to create the desired atmosphere. 

My supervisors were Svetlana Bogomolova and Vahram Muradyan. 

The work has participated in the “Exhibition of the Class of 2024” and “Threshold” at Gallery Pallas. At the exhibitions, I present prints alongside the completed animation to illustrate the concept of being stuck in a cycle and to highlight the labour-intensive process of creating frame-by-frame animations, as the general public usually doesn’t grasp the full workload. 

Tools: Procreate, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Audition, GarageBand, Lightroom, Photoshop, linocut printmaking tools