Alchemists: Unusual processes and media

Photographs by:

Catlin [email protected]

Christophe [email protected]

Jo [email protected]

Marysia [email protected]

Nicolas [email protected]

David [email protected]

Interview by:

Eloise [email protected]

Curated by:

Louise [email protected]

Poem by:

Elizabeth [email protected]

Edited by:

Lisa [email protected]

Proof read by:

Anne-Marie [email protected]

Design by:

Mandana [email protected]

Also available as a colour, e-publication:www.viewfinder.org.uk/shop

Published by:

Viewfinder Photography GalleryLinear House,Peyton Place, off Royal Hill,Greenwich, London SE10 8RS

www.viewfinder.org.uk

First published May 2010

© the artists and authors.the views expressed in thispublication are not necessarilythe views of the publisher orthe editors.

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Jo [email protected]

i believe in a world of mirrors as literal representations of people, power and the messages which are fed to us through history and the media; they are also portals to another dimension, the ‘mirror world’ where nothing is as it seems, but where nothing in this world cannot exist without its polar opposite – light and dark, tragedy and beauty, creation and devastation. Equally my work exists in this semi-real dimension. there may be a very clear subject or message in my work, often there is more than one way of looking at it; the viewer’s own vision is as unique and important as my own. Just as you can listen to a piece of music and take your own meaning and solace from it, although the writer had a very specific subject in mind that you could never know or fully comprehend, so exists my work. i am particularly influenced by the photographic work of the surrealist movement, play, the uncanny and mistakism. i am inspired by photographers and artists who are able to capture the beauty in everyday life, including Eugene Atget and Uta Barth.

i am fascinated by the worlds of the real and the unreal, and the places in which they meet and overlap, such as the mirror. All of us possess the potential to imagine, to create alternative and impractical scenarios, and i am interested in ways of creating art that both expresses the child-like sense of play and makes the impossible possible, such as the work of the surrealist photographers and the recent developments in creating interactive spaces to explore using virtual environments such as Second Life.

My long-standing interest in fairy tales, myths, legends and gothic literature further ties in with the idea of the looking glass world where nothing is what it seems – the beautiful can be deadly, humans can fly, and anything is possible.

My own practice stems from this, as i aim to create immersive spaces for the spectator to interact with and explore, or which hint at the unknown space beyond – that spectators can experience if they open their minds to ‘step inside’ – using visual arts, including photography and virtual spaces (the mirror world).

Documents

Alchemists: Unusual processes and media