Artist Statement: Crumbles and Deterioration
This body of work captures interactions between tactile material and images of nature. I combine natural forces such as the movement of water and falling of leaves interlaced with concrete, stone and other artificial products. I was initially inspired by my time in Italy, where I searched to find greenery and small pieces of nature that reminded me of home in both Los Angeles and New Orleans. This led to the work that I have done this past semester where I continued this search for detail in the lushness and greenery of the cities that inspired me. The black and white darkroom process that I use, combined with the crumbling of paper and various soaking techniques, correlates to the images themselves as they both address natural processes such as the flow of water and the movement of organic material.
The ambiguity and free flowing-ness of the photographs that are produced through the process contrasted with strong lines and structures within the negative portrays nature within an experiment rather than the direct dichotomy between manmade and nature. By crumbling the negatives and the paper during and after the process in the darkroom, I present a collision between images of the world and the physicality of the world itself. The tactile immediacy of the images is explored through the texture of the images, both large and small. The contrast of nature gives a feeling of surprise as the crumbles are observed throughout.
