Dark Matters
These photographs come from a series titled Dark Matters. Found fragments such as a moss turf, discarded Brazil nuts from foraging squirrels, are reconfigured to give a heightened attention, sense of wonder to that which may ordinarily be overlooked.
Set against a dark recess of space, the staged illuminations renders the isolated objects strange to the point of surreal, echoing the seventeenth century bodegones by Juan Sanchez Cotan.
The images invite the observer to transform the seemingly banal and incidental into alternative fictional narratives, that yield playful re-imaginings of the natural world and sense of the sublime.
More serious concerns also underpin the work . Whilst instilling a re-enchantment with the natural world , the narratives may signal an urgent need to reflect upon the precarious interconnectedness of eco systems that sustain life.
These shards , abject fragments are positioned to iconic status full of metaphorical associations ; could these be prophetic visions from the future , relics of nature or alternatively beginnings of new indifferent worlds where man plays no part .
Particular texts have influenced my work including Rainforest by Jenni Diski, The Shell Collector and About Grace by Anthony Doerr and Sightlines by Kathleen Jamie.