In my work I tend to give a natural entity a guiding role. I offer control over my work to a possibly inconspicuous life form in order to question the assumed separation between man and nature. By making developers of plants for analogue film or by having photos affected by growing fungi, my work gains a specific materiality that is deeply connected to the subject and its location. What I show is almost never a representation of the reality that takes place in front of me. The images are vague and altered. Because of the coarse grain, lack of contrast and deterioration of the image, it is not just a documentation of a landscape, a person or any subject for that matter. It’s an impression of what lies hidden within it; a precarious, wild beauty.
In order to gain this insight, I give a lot of my time and attention to the subject and material. The repetition of actions therefore plays a major role in the process. From this way of working sprouts a ritual that strengthens my connection with a place, material or memory. The time I infest is visualised in the deterioration of the image; it makes the elapsed time visible and it is fixed, but largely transient.
In order to gain this insight, I give a lot of my time and attention to the subject and material. The repetition of actions therefore plays a major role in the process. From this way of working sprouts a ritual that strengthens my connection with a place, material or memory. The time I infest is visualised in the deterioration of the image; it makes the elapsed time visible and it is fixed, but largely transient.