dark times
The series, Dark Times, is my artists response to the Trump presidency and the dark times that are upon us. It references a Bertolt Brecht quote: “In the dark times, will there also be singing? Yes, there will also be singing. About the dark times.”
These photograms are images made without a camera by exposing silver gelatin photographic paper to light and then developing them using traditional darkroom methods. While photograms are typically made by placing objects on a sheet of photographic paper and then exposing it to light, I crease, fold, twist, wring, and pound the water-soaked paper before exposing it to light. The variation in folding techniques creates different patterned effects based on the refraction of light and how it does or doesn’t expose the paper. The results are a full tonal range from white to black.
When dried the paper hardens and retains a shape becoming almost sculptural in nature. The images in this series have been unfurled so that the retain the basic paper shape and size of the original in a bas-relief. This aspect was a surprise development that may be due to the gelatin in the paper. I haven’t fully explored the three-dimensionality and sculptural quality of the paper by leaving it in the crimped and distorted form before unfurling.
My treatment of photographic paper is unconventional. These aggressive manipulations reflect my gut-wrenching reactions to the atrocities and policy changes that are handed down almost daily. Yet, paradoxically, I find the final results to be beautiful and engaging.