At the other side of beyond
At the other side of beyond
My studio practice is largely informed by my interest in the vast spaces of ‘inbetweenness’ and interconnectedness. I am especially interested in exploring the dichotomy of materiality and spirituality and the ways the two existential elements can be synthesized within an expanded drawing medium. Here, in the West, we live in a society that is predominantly mechanistic and materialistic. We tend to view the ethereal and the spiritual as untrustworthy. In my studio, I am searching for and experimenting with visual structures that embody unity and balance, and visual forms that are able to release our ability to perceive alternative realities such as imagination, daydream and vision.
My recent work is process oriented, where the repetition of rhythmic and tedious movements allows both grounding and meditation. It is supported by investigations into less conventional structures of knowledge that equalize the rational and irrational mode of thinking such as theology, mythology, and folktales. Most of the work deals with spatial illusions that build on the discrepancies of our vision. These include binocular disparity, which affects the way we perceive and interpret depth, and our inability to perceive both figure and ground at the same time. The work is made of a range of conventional and unconventional drawing materials and surfaces such as paper, ink, graphite, acrylic, thread, fabric, wax, wood, nails, plastic rods and plastic sheets; I am using Minimalist tropes such as grids, lines, patterns and repetition, in an attempt to manipulate these materials until they transcend their materiality and morph into illusions.
My intention with these works is to convert the gallery setting into a space for the viewer to experience a kind of suspension that places them between two senses of time and space, allowing for reflection and contemplation. I want to offer the audience an experience where the boundaries between magic, enchantment and logic are blurred, and where the rational and irrational collide.