In Proximities Photographic series, 2013
Large-scale edition of 5 & 1 A/P; Small-scale edition of 15 & 1 A/P
In Proximities is a series of four photographic prints. They were shot on film in the studio from a tableau of everyday stationery items with no manipulation employed. Works from the series have been installed in private collections and selected for:-
2022 14TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 157 (In Proximities 4)
2022 THE VIOLET HOUR, ABRIDGED MAGAZINE (In Proximities 4)
2021 SOMETHING FROM NOTHING, Kato Wong Galley, online (all)
2014 EPSY PHOTOGRAPHIC AWARD EXHIBITION (In Proximities 3)
Large-scale edition of 5 & 1 A/P; Small-scale edition of 15 & 1 A/P
In Proximities is a series of four photographic prints. They were shot on film in the studio from a tableau of everyday stationery items with no manipulation employed. Works from the series have been installed in private collections and selected for:-
2022 14TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 157 (In Proximities 4)
2022 THE VIOLET HOUR, ABRIDGED MAGAZINE (In Proximities 4)
2021 SOMETHING FROM NOTHING, Kato Wong Galley, online (all)
2014 EPSY PHOTOGRAPHIC AWARD EXHIBITION (In Proximities 3)
In Proximities 6,3,2,4
Ambiguity or dialectic thinking in art is for me about bringing forward the dynamic interplay of opposing elements which can lead to deeper understanding, transformation, or synthesis. Contradictions can be held, not as something to be avoided, but as a driving force for change and development and a transformative understanding of reality.
Making this series, I was thinking about research that I'd read that tells us that how people move around and experience their urban environment can have strong influences on our mental health, from healthy transport options, to social spaces, to a glimpse of vegetation from our office windows. Cities can make us sad. Cities can exacerbate mental illness. City living is a risk factor for depression anxiety and even schizophrenia (doubles the risk). However, cities can also make us happy. 'They can give us an stress-free commute that brings us in contact with trees. They can give us daylight and the feeling of space. They can bring us security. An important part of our mental health is in the hands of those who plan and design our cities'. Centre for Urban Design and Mental Health.
This work is all about inviting us to keep considering the contradictions in our relationship with the urban. Playing with scaling and ambiguity, here urban spaces are unpopulated and presented in ways that invite feelings of curiosity and intrigue, yet at the same time maybe offer senses of unsettlement, a bit surreal, or eerie—creating a sense of strangeness or discomfort and unfamiliar. The concept of the uncanny (or unheimlich in German) was famously explored by Sigmund Freud, referring to something that is both familiar and strange at the same time, evoking feelings of unease.
Making this series, I was thinking about research that I'd read that tells us that how people move around and experience their urban environment can have strong influences on our mental health, from healthy transport options, to social spaces, to a glimpse of vegetation from our office windows. Cities can make us sad. Cities can exacerbate mental illness. City living is a risk factor for depression anxiety and even schizophrenia (doubles the risk). However, cities can also make us happy. 'They can give us an stress-free commute that brings us in contact with trees. They can give us daylight and the feeling of space. They can bring us security. An important part of our mental health is in the hands of those who plan and design our cities'. Centre for Urban Design and Mental Health.
This work is all about inviting us to keep considering the contradictions in our relationship with the urban. Playing with scaling and ambiguity, here urban spaces are unpopulated and presented in ways that invite feelings of curiosity and intrigue, yet at the same time maybe offer senses of unsettlement, a bit surreal, or eerie—creating a sense of strangeness or discomfort and unfamiliar. The concept of the uncanny (or unheimlich in German) was famously explored by Sigmund Freud, referring to something that is both familiar and strange at the same time, evoking feelings of unease.