Introduction
OBJECT DIASPORA 2009-2010
Object Diaspora presents photographs of objects that have been passed between people and families over time and have become imbued with a special meaning, significance and value. The objects come to embody, often, the spirit and memory of the person who originally possessed them and are given an almost ‘sacred’ status by their current owners. Like people who migrate from one country to another looking to begin a new life, these objects travel, get placed in a new environment and become part of their new culture. We breathe our spirit into these objects, and we use them with the spirit of the person who gave them to us.
This ongoing series of images are taken with a large format pinhole camera. They are toned gelatin silver prints on 8x10” Foma paper, created in an edition of 12 with 3 Artist Proofs.
HERE NOR THERE 2011-Ongoing
As I observe my young daughter's craving for imagination, I see the potential in that creativity and how it could be harnessed to make positive changes for the world. Children have the candid imagination to entertain themselves effortlessly for pure play and invention. In between the adult reality and the purely imaginative one is the magic. The magic is the inexplicable place that lies somewhere between here and there. It is the mystery of the unknown that enchants humans into believing in any given religion or any spiritual path. For humans, it is this mystery that leads to curiosity, which can be the impetus to bring forth solutions and innovations for healing the Earth's future. The images in this series are my interpretations of these initial magical, mysterious moments of inspiration. These images are influenced by literature, folklore, invention and reality as well as the unexplained and the curious. They can not be attributed to any one given place – they are neither here nor there.
The prints in this ongoing series are approximately 8 x 3.5”, and each print is a unique selenium toned, handcoated albumen print in an edition of 9 with 3 artist proofs. The Albumen process, which involves simple egg whites as the base on the paper for light sensitive silver nitrate, serves the intent of the series in that Albumen is the perfect combination of the magical and the scientific. Albumen is a prime example of how the combination of creative innovation and curiosity progressed the photographic world into a major artistic and societal shift at the time of its invention.
UTOPIA 2013-Ongoing
Utopia was first described in the Plato's Socratic dialogue, The Republic, where Plato shared the idea that if citizens learned the wisdom to eliminate poverty, they could become rulers. In this society, there would be few laws and wars, ultimately leading to a peaceful society.
The notion of Utopia arose again in the 16th century, with Sir Thomas More's book Utopia which proposed an ideal society in the creation of the said name. The actual definition of Utopia has been confused over time between the Greek definition which means "no place" and the homophonic prefix meaning "good place.” The marriage of these two definitions assumes that the definition for Utopia is an idyllic place that does not exist.
In this series, I have constructed imaginary landscapes, with the intention to create a physical landscape of which does exist, if only in the paper-imaged form. They are my response to the philosophical question of whether a perfect place can exist, bringing together life's dualities into a perfect union of beauty.
The albumen process involves simple egg whites as the base on the paper for light sensitive silver nitrate. Albumen, as a medium, helps to convince the viewer that these landscapes do exist, as our societal association with the 19th Century albumen prints were deemed true renditions of the time and place in which they were taken.
Images are tiered in price by edition number, approximately 6 x 8”, matted 16 x 20”
Edition of 9 with 3 AP. Prints are signed, dated, editioned, and titled on print recto.
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