"Surrealism is the fusion of unconscious and fantasy"
My photographic art is primarily concerned with depicting an untouchable reality with elements of surrealism. I put together images that show quiet, introspective and unconscious moments in daily life; creation of an image is an imaginative process in which I try to give a physical texture to fleeting or unarticulated feelings. In realising a particular image, it also becomes possible to deepen our understanding of ourselves and examine the social contexts in which we live.
I plan my compositions using scrapbooks of drawings and collages to construct a mood and a balanced visual theme, and I spend many hours experimenting with colours and textures to convey my ideas. The background of my art is my imagination at play, and that playful quality is directed at my intention to engage the viewer and evoke an emotional, psychological or intellectual response.
The images are theatrically staged using locations, props and people, and are then captured using traditional photographic techniques. In post-production I use digital tools to make photographic montages. The finished images are presented in rich, vibrant colour and finely detailed. The outcome is fine-art photography that has theatrical qualities or the feel of a movie photo still.
My ability is to communicate thoughts and to make a snapshot of the unconscious; I aim to assist viewers to take hold of their own inner life and to see what might otherwise have been missed. In this way, photography can change our range of vision. My work is created in the context of my continuing exploration of the fusion of the unconscious and fantasy. The tales I tell through imagery seek to breathe a hint of the surreal into the reality of the viewer.
"Sight is only the narrow limits of our eye."