noun: a play or part of a play with speaking roles
for only two actors.
2017 - ongoing
I love to wander the streets and observe people. My series, Duologues, records fragments of these encounters. It is a play between two images creating meanings belonging to neither— a discovery process each viewer interprets differently. Reminiscent of the idea of synchronicity, an idea that describes meaningful coincidences, my pairings intentionally produce uncanny relationships.
Shooting intuitively and spontaneously, my eyes lock onto the unusual, the outstanding, and even the mundane. Frequently, dramatic lighting shapes the photographs. I collect the unrelated pieces like stems in a wildflower field - disconnected, yet bound together by their place of origin. The visuals seem familiar but particulars will distinguish them from the common.
I match the images by playing a game of Memory: finding in each image shapes, gestures, and symbols that rhyme. The rhyming may occur within the major elements in the image, such as the subject, or in minute details that otherwise might go unnoticed. By pairing two photos that occurred at different moments in time, the story that emerges can bring them together. The final sequence feels deeply connected, even though the encounters on the street were random.
noun: a gradual decrease in speed.
2021 - ongoing
Ceaseless motion. Faces and gestures move in and out of focus. Fragmented scenes. The flow of hair or a quick glance. Fleeting moments. New York City’s backdrop of brick walls, construction barriers, and advertisements becomes a kaleidoscope of red, green, and yellow. Abstracted impressions. People rushing, looking past me, often engrossed in their digital devices. Split seconds. The profound significance of individuals walking alone in a hurried crowd. Imagined identities. Beauty overlooked in the disjointed nature of everyday urban life. Image overload.
Then, deep breath. Distance.
At first glance, the candid portraits in Rallentando resemble studio shots devoid of time and place. But my spontaneous process reveals itself slowly through closely cropped, off-center compositions of banal details that offer visual clues of daily encounters. The images challenge the boundaries between representation and abstraction, suggesting anonymity and emotional disconnection. What do we remember of our daily encounters and what becomes an instant memory?
At the heart of my artistic philosophy lies a profound reverence for the perseverance of everyday life. Through the interplay of light, shadow, and color, I offer a poignant reminder of our shared humanity and the timeless quest for connection in an increasingly fragmented world.