The native language of rocks – Green collection
Nature loves to hide. It rests by changing |
“At its best, a photograph captures a transient moment in time. An architectural and commercial photographer by profession, I spent decades facing the challenge of mastering the intellectual and technical aspects required to produce succinct, descriptive work. As I get older, I find myself being called to spend more and more time in nature. I have searched for a way to express the exalted state that being in nature provides: my mind clears itself from the exhausting busyness of everyday life and I become imbued with the spirit of nature, it’s beauty and the whispered wisdoms all around me. For me, the art of seeing has become a deeply spiritual practice, which in turn allows me to communicate the essence of what I see more effectively.
Both ‘Buddha’s Eye’ and ‘Conversations about Green’ have their genesis in the ancient rock formations of Hornby Island, whose evocative shapes captivated me with their viscerally powerful visual presence. I became entranced by the elusive, whispered messages they seemed to offer, transcending the visual into an intuitive and spiritual world.
Returning to the rocks a year later in the winter months, I found them clothed in green. The symbiotic relationship between the rocks and the colour was intriguing: the rocks lending gravitas and mass to the transience of green; the sheer ferocity of the colour adding an exuberant voice to the contemplative nature of the rocks. This made me reflect on what “green” means to me as a photographer. As a colour, green is located at the mid-point of colour balance, exactly halfway between the heating and expanding colours of red/orange/yellow and the contracting electric colours of blue/indigo/violet. Green is restful, cool and fresh: because it is not sharply focused by the eye, it does not lend itself to angularity. The human eye recognizes more variation in green than in any other colour. Green is a deeply meditative colour and its fleeting nature - almost by definition - makes one live in the moment.”
FSS
Green is a colour. Green is a profound spiritual practice. Green is the solace that nature accords.
24” x 24” archival pigment prints on watercolour paper
Exhibited:
Beaulieu sur Dordogne 2014
Arbutus Gallery 2010
Kay Meek Centre 2010
Jeremy Maude Gallery 2009
Hornby Island 2008
