Essence is an intuitive exploration of a collective state of tension. In 2020, grief overlapped with uncertainty, and a global anxiety took hold of the human psyche in the form of a virus. Masks appeared in the Australian summer because we were suffocating from bushfire smoke. Now, they protect our lungs from influenza.
Lumen printing is one of the earliest forms of photography. Created without a camera, objects are placed directly onto expired photographic paper and then exposed to sunlight. The transparent and opaque qualities of the object intercept the sunlight manifesting a photograph.
The Lumen printing process can be mastered but is ultimately untameable, reflecting the character of a global pandemic.
Each image, in Essence, is a creation using evidence from a catastrophe.