Defender, 2024
Unique ctype hand prints, hoisted with steel
Antagonists, 2024
B/w silver gelatin prints made on expired Kodak paper, metal sculpture
In awe of Joesph Hoefnagel (a Dragonfly portrait), 2024
found dead dragonfly sandwiched between two black and white negatives, metal sculpture
Grey-headed flying fox colony, Burdekin Park, Singleton, NSW Australia, 2011 - 2024
112 b/w silver gelatin prints on expired Kodak bromide paper, taped together with restoration tape
Ibis congregation, Western Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2022 - 2024
104 b/w silver gelatin prints on expired Agfa paper, taped together with restoration tape
FlyCatcher, 2024
Unique ctype hand prints mounted on aluminium, steel brace
Installation view, Aeterna, a bi-personal exhibition with Lorena Florio, at Mucho Mas! Turin, Italy
PEST OR FRIEND
…Once they begin attaching themselves, they develop green pupae on their belly. They protect themselves with sharp hair as hard as iron wire, and use this defense mechanism to detract larger mammals and birds. They hardly breed or pollinate, and are colonial organisms that predate when connected… Stationary camouflaging in their nests, they are commonly mistaken for prey when dislodged or separated in motion; lifted to flail in harsh wind or be run over by vehicles...
Pest or friend connects with organisms that are emblems of the urban environment.
In being highly versatile and adaptable, animals
considered to be pests are examples of animal success. Associated previously
with disease and filth, aviators such as pigeons and flies have learnt to
navigate poor social systems of housing, infrastructure collapse and feeding on
human waste. Every species have natural ‘enemies’ that prevent others from
multiplying in uncontrolled numbers.
The adaptation methods of city dwelling creatures
largely develop because of the declining availability and diversity in natural
habitats, shifting closer and closer towards city life.
As the ‘pest’ boom continues to rise in cities across
the world, the Global Pest Control Market takes it head on, thriving with new
challenges of products and solutions. What is making these critters bloom?
Relentless ecological change poses new co-dependencies, and is a reminder of the
intricate symbiosis, between humans, creatures and the environments they share.
Merging as companion species to the two floor ‘colonies’ of
this work, metal formations are examples of pest condemnation. Photographed
in habitats of refuge; the White Australian Ibis bird in an inner city Wetland,
and the grey headed flying fox in a park of Singleton, NSW, are two native
species examined for their vulnerability and exceptional adaptability. Printed in multitude with found packs of expired photographic paper, details and zoom ins from single b/w negatives have been scrutinised. With each print being taped together, a retoration in habitat poses here as form; designed and dislocated, stunted in function.
Pest or friend was developed and supported by the the PM and MM! Open Call, a curatorial collaboration between Mucho Mas! and Pellicola magazine. The work is currently being exhibited as part of Aeterna, at Mucho Mas!, Torino, until the 21st of April, 2024.
A big thank you to Wojciech Kawczyk, Matilde Gusmeroli, Artful Dodgers Imaging, Dot Imaging and North London Darkroom for helping facilitate the development of this work.
PEST OR FRIEND
…Once they begin attaching themselves, they develop green pupae on their belly. They protect themselves with sharp hair as hard as iron wire, and use this defense mechanism to detract larger mammals and birds. They hardly breed or pollinate, and are colonial organisms that predate when connected… Stationary camouflaging in their nests, they are commonly mistaken for prey when dislodged or separated in motion; lifted to flail in harsh wind or be run over by vehicles...
Pest or friend connects with organisms that are emblems of the urban environment.
In being highly versatile and adaptable, animals considered to be pests are examples of animal success. Associated previously with disease and filth, aviators such as pigeons and flies have learnt to navigate poor social systems of housing, infrastructure collapse and feeding on human waste. Every species have natural ‘enemies’ that prevent others from multiplying in uncontrolled numbers.
The adaptation methods of city dwelling creatures largely develop because of the declining availability and diversity in natural habitats, shifting closer and closer towards city life.
As the ‘pest’ boom continues to rise in cities across the world, the Global Pest Control Market takes it head on, thriving with new challenges of products and solutions. What is making these critters bloom? Relentless ecological change poses new co-dependencies, and is a reminder of the intricate symbiosis, between humans, creatures and the environments they share.
Merging as companion species to the two floor ‘colonies’ of this work, metal formations are examples of pest condemnation. Photographed in habitats of refuge; the White Australian Ibis bird in an inner city Wetland, and the grey headed flying fox in a park of Singleton, NSW, are two native species examined for their vulnerability and exceptional adaptability. Printed in multitude with found packs of expired photographic paper, details and zoom ins from single b/w negatives have been scrutinised. With each print being taped together, a retoration in habitat poses here as form; designed and dislocated, stunted in function.
…Once they begin attaching themselves, they develop green pupae on their belly. They protect themselves with sharp hair as hard as iron wire, and use this defense mechanism to detract larger mammals and birds. They hardly breed or pollinate, and are colonial organisms that predate when connected… Stationary camouflaging in their nests, they are commonly mistaken for prey when dislodged or separated in motion; lifted to flail in harsh wind or be run over by vehicles...
Pest or friend connects with organisms that are emblems of the urban environment.
In being highly versatile and adaptable, animals considered to be pests are examples of animal success. Associated previously with disease and filth, aviators such as pigeons and flies have learnt to navigate poor social systems of housing, infrastructure collapse and feeding on human waste. Every species have natural ‘enemies’ that prevent others from multiplying in uncontrolled numbers.
The adaptation methods of city dwelling creatures largely develop because of the declining availability and diversity in natural habitats, shifting closer and closer towards city life.
As the ‘pest’ boom continues to rise in cities across the world, the Global Pest Control Market takes it head on, thriving with new challenges of products and solutions. What is making these critters bloom? Relentless ecological change poses new co-dependencies, and is a reminder of the intricate symbiosis, between humans, creatures and the environments they share.
Merging as companion species to the two floor ‘colonies’ of this work, metal formations are examples of pest condemnation. Photographed in habitats of refuge; the White Australian Ibis bird in an inner city Wetland, and the grey headed flying fox in a park of Singleton, NSW, are two native species examined for their vulnerability and exceptional adaptability. Printed in multitude with found packs of expired photographic paper, details and zoom ins from single b/w negatives have been scrutinised. With each print being taped together, a retoration in habitat poses here as form; designed and dislocated, stunted in function.
Pest or friend was developed and supported by the the PM and MM! Open Call, a curatorial collaboration between Mucho Mas! and Pellicola magazine. The work is currently being exhibited as part of Aeterna, at Mucho Mas!, Torino, until the 21st of April, 2024.
A big thank you to Wojciech Kawczyk, Matilde Gusmeroli, Artful Dodgers Imaging, Dot Imaging and North London Darkroom for helping facilitate the development of this work.
Working Palette 1-10, 2023
Black and white photographs, hand coloured and retouched with photographic dye
30.5cm. x 40.6cm (dry mounted on board)
A palette is
a range of colours. It can be an object that is used to house colours, and a
surface to mix colours. It is a resource, a tool, a beholder of alteration
and a facilitator for creation.
In computer
graphics, a palette is referred to as the set of available colours of which an
image can be made. With colour profiles available on our software, our colour
perception can relate to how we view on our screens. With commitment to the device, screens can infuse the way we perceive, and in return, redesign our
visual understanding of it. With analogue film apps you can choose your film
without buying it, choose an era, and recreate an old memory. On Snapseed, you
can auto remove the background of a subject and replace it with ‘a better’ one,
or with One Tap Beauty Make-up Editor you can perfectly face-tune your selfie.
Modify your body with Youcam, and airbrush imperfection...
Tools
are companions.
Thinning,
smoothing, enhancing and reducing are all tied in with ways images are altered through ‘retouching’. From representations of events, bodies and
products to food and location; our ever-changing tools provide us with access to
morph realities.
Gesturing towards the plasticity of the medium, Working Palette is an ode to the craft of
hand retouching, and the work of ‘maestro’ retoucher and teacher Kevin O’neill.
Hand
printed as black and white photographs and hand retouched; a range of colour
blending techniques, brushwork and physical retouch masks have been used to make this work. Focusing on the
interaction between hand and image, subjects involved are
retouching products once readily available on the market, and the borrowed
palettes of Kevin O’neill. Building up colour
and working on these prints with photographic dye, the objects themselves become
responsive, living. Seeping in and out of the frame, areas are left unfinished, and others, embellished.
Working Palette from Working Palette, 2023
C-type handprint made from expired duplicate film
C-type handprint made from expired duplicate film
Selected work from Droppings... 2022
unique c-type handprints, made from photographic negative off-cuts and a roll of 10” expired Kodak endura paper
A special thank you to Carl Randall, co-collector of photographic waste
Installation of Shelflifes at Un/Sense, the first edition of NEXT, Christies, London, 2022
Curated by Pia Zeitzen and Sasha Shavchenko
Curated by Pia Zeitzen and Sasha Shavchenko
selected pinhole exposures from December - February, 2020
27-12-19 Tesco, Seven Sisters, 2 nights
03-01-20 Sainsbury’s, Stamford Hill, 2 nights
06-01-20 Lidl, Tottenham, overnight
15-02-20 M&S, Dalston, 6 hours
15-02-20 Sainsbury’s, Dalston, 6 hours
selected pinhole exposures from February - March, 2020
22-02-20 Waitrose, Clerkernwell, 6.5 hours
07-03-20 Asda, Stamford Hill, 6 hours
08-03-20 Sainsbury’s, New Cross Gate, 7 hours
12-03-20 Asda, Bruce Grove, overnight
13-03-20 Morrisons, Stamford Hill, 6 hours
selected pinhole exposures March 2020
15-03-20 Sainsbury’s, Chancery Lane, 5 hours
16-03-20 Sainsbury’s, Farringdon, 5.5 hours
18-03-20 Tesco, Seven Sisters, overnight
20-03-20 Tesco, Enfield, 4 hours
20-03-20 Tesco, Enfield, 4 hours
Selected installation, London, 2021
documentation of a Supermarket Diary, 2021
Aortic Deposit (Shack Cooking 6 takes) Studies 1-5, 2022
C-type hand prints made with part exposure/ part chemigram on film
It started with an invitation to lunch.
Ox heart.
It was one of 6.
6 Ox hearts were sourced for 6 takes of a scene shot in London, and following the shoot,
the 6 Ox hearts were designated to bin.
8-12 people can generously feed on a nutritiously giving, life forming Ox heart.
Salvaging 3 of the 6, the friend who invited me to lunch gifted me the un-edible parts of 1
and one full 1.
I cooked it, we shared it.
Troop, 2022
Unique chemigrams made on Kodak expired bromide paper
installed with point head pins
Chemigram materials involved: Ox heart valves/ off-cuts and juice, toothpaste, old mascara, pickle juice,
black and white chemistry, sepia toner concentrate, C41 chemistry, expired Kodak Bromide paper, expired
Brovira paper and expired fuji paper.