Whole/Hole (2019-2020)
This work is about healing and making space for healing to occur. It is so easy to fill a void with x, y, and z, or perhaps, neglecting these parts of yourself all together. I noticed the relationship between these two words that often appeared in my writing over the last few years. How do you begin to take the pieces of yourself that you buried (out of sight, out of mind) and reclaim them? What does it look like, and more importantly, feel like to be whole? This series represents growth, resilience, beauty, and acceptance.
Typically, I have a solid idea of the final piece when beginning a series. I knew early on that I wanted the finish piece to contain an area that contrasted visually with majority of the image. I planned to combine color negative scans with silver gelatin prints; and more specially, I was hoping to incorporate lith printing. However, our need to self-isolate and social distance left me without a darkroom before any prints could be pulled. Therefore, I decided to bury the inner circles underground for 1-2 weeks. Then, I dug them up before letting them "soak" with common household items.This produced a variety of unexpected results, quite possibly, better than my original plan.
Let this be a reminder to uncover what you've buried, and hold space for it within yourself.