The revelation of the Spirit comes in a fleeting moment, yet its impact on our senses can be profound and unrelenting. Perceived on many levels in the most mysterious of ways, the appearance of the Spirit is by nature impermanent. Like smoke, it cannot be contained. We have no reference for the Spirit; it is the other — the other side, the other way.
Like people who see divinity in the complexity of Nature, I believe everything exists for the pleasure of the Spirit. For me, dried plant leaves are the remains of the once fuller Spirit that inhabited the living plant.
This new imagery comes out of a decade of falling in love with plants in my garden. Each summer I plant Colocasia bulbs, tend them and, when the giant leaves begin to die back, harvest them. I hang the leaves to dry inside my studio for a few months until their shapes begin to reveal a Spirit to me. Then I start the process of making computer-generated images.
In the resulting abstract images, each leaf is isolated from everyday context, which gives viewers an opportunity to appreciate its unique Spirit. I title these images after the ancestors. At the moment, I am naming them in honor of Egyptian mummies.
This article is reserved for subscribed members only. If you are already a member, you can log in here below.
Subscribe for full access to The Eye of Photography archives!
That’s thousands of images and articles, documenting the history of the medium of photography and its evolution during the last decade, through a unique daily journal. Explore how photography, as an art and as a social phenomenon, continue to define our experience of the world. Two offers are available.
Subscribe either monthly for 8 euros (€) or annually for 79 euros (€) (2 months offered).
