For me the purity of the moment of painting with light and its radical nature lies at the heart of my practice. My use of the pinhole camera embodies this desire. The outdated and seemingly primitive technology for me is forever new and superior to anything the digital world can throw up. I have no interest in capturing reality as a photo copy of the world. My desire lies in setting it free with an unconventional perception and practice. I abandon the limiting construct of  the 'perfect shot'. My striving is to revive the spontaneous moment where light coming through my hand made camera bears it's own gift. This for me captures the paradigm of the Expanded Field. My photographs become paintings. All this is created through analogue technology and hand colouring at the mercy of the elements. The film I use is only sensitive to ultraviolet light. This invisible light births the visible by chemical reaction, through its own alchemy of light meeting the aperture of camera, untouched by digital photo-editing that is dogmatically bound by mathematical codes and precision. My practice mirrors the natural world. Here replication is not found but uniqueness is honoured. Following this path I invite layers of interpretation and projection for all. The underlying motivation for me is creating an artwork that is symbolic of my desire to leave an immortal footprint of self. Each work of art is to me a portal into immortality.

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Untitled # 16, 2021  

pinhole photography and ink  

841 x 1188 mm

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