Lys is part of a series of works that analyses and explore my personal experiences during the pandemic. I have worked with botanical and landscape motifs as well as exploring images of bodily distress, transformation and transcendence. My main focus is on understanding the diversity of embodied life experience alongside the key universal themes that bring our experiences closer together: love, pain and fear.
I find an affinity between ourselves and flowers, which is why they are a common motif in this series. We exist in the same cosmic and environmental structure, absorbing the same air and experiencing the same weather. We both need to be nurtured and seek warmth and light to grow, blossom and reach our full potential. We move and dance but remain rooted in our environment and original identities.
My artistic process is an organic combination of concept and material, selecting the images or mediums that represents the idea and intentions I wish to convey.
I begin my photography by drafting and creating a conceptual framework for an artwork or series. I then build upon this, working from the natural movements of the human body. Finally, I enhance the photograph using Photoshop, incorporating the surreal elements that bring my works to life.
In this way, my pieces narrow the distance between life and art. I do not meticulously stage my images and figures. Therefore, I produce artworks that focus on and highlight the unrefined nature of the human body. The artwork emerges from the photograph, not the other way around.