Maelstrøm

The images in this collection are part of a broader, personal journey … they form a fragmentary narrative woven together from various bits and pieces of my dreamworld … they are a kind of conceptual-symbolic documentation of my inner life.

As I grow older, I ought to find myself “improved,” more experienced, confident, wiser, etc. Instead, in my struggle with chronic illness, I often find myself growing weary and weak, drained, ever less assured, ever more hesitant. These feelings carry over into the night, where they disrupt my sleep and disturb my dreams. These emotional states often have a distinct visual flavour, and this project is largely an effort to interpret and to externalize the images that come at me, absent rational form, seemingly out of nowhere. ... This is my way of processing feelings of self-loss, atrophy, and fear … but also, on a more positive note, these images reflect a simple recognition of life change, a statement of hope, and an expression of gratitude. On my better days, on days with less pain … I go to sleep dreaming of a world re-enchanted, imbued with the Sublime … a world once again enveloped within the atmospherics of the Absolute.

Most of these images were created over the course of the past two years, with the generous help and collaboration with friends, family, models, actors and dancers.

NOTE: All images are numbered sequentially, and the title for each image is indicated by its corresponding number, as follows: “Maelstrøm, No.[x]; [location, year]”