This collection was created during Australia’s first phase of lockdown. Images taken from late March to early July 2020, exploring the importance of the individual emotional journey against the backdrop of a global pandemic. The collection follows the emotional arc over this period and explores three distinct phases exploring the role played by the garden, stillness and reflection in feeding the soul.
The work is a record of change, deep practice and growth. The journey starts with the artist capturing fleeting moments of time and moves to the slow and deliberate process of visualising and bringing images into being. The process of creation takes time. The unexpected gift of 2020 has been the opportunity to slow down, to take stock, to practice and to reflect. This is a good moment to reflect, knowing that there is still much of our journey to come.
Each image is contained, tightly constrained in its borders. The series starts in black and white and moves to colour. Each image is luminous, the image plumbs into deep shadows and explodes into bright highlights. Life finding its way through the darkness and beauty exploding out of tightly constrained spaces. An allegory for our times, the artist finding their way through the darkness to light and beauty.
This collection has been inspired by classic art throughout history - the Dutch masters, the genius of Cezanne, the classic photographers Kertesz, Steichen and the modern genius of Mapplethorpe. Each image is connected deeply and authentically with the past. A plate from the 1600’s, jugs and kitchenware from the early 1900’s, a mirror from the 1930s all forming the foundation for the images. These precious pieces connecting us with history and providing the sense of hope for the future. This is juxtaposed against the fleeting nature of life - the beauty of a flower or a piece of fruit at it’s moment of perfection, the celebration of small blemishes and the unexpected beauty of decay.
The garden and a studio space established in the corner of the dining room provided the space in which these images were created. Fruit purchased locally, home grown or gifted, flowers picked from the garden, feathers collected on walks, butterflies resting for a fleeting moment, light from a window. A celebration of what you can create with what you have to hand and when you have time to imagine and dream.
