in these twenty-two selenium split-toned black and white photographs, reproductions of paintings and engravings are combined with real objects to create hybrid fantasies
the seer & the seen
the cone
the polygon
the purse
after van eyck
the looking glass
diane de poitiers
eve
adam
the arnolfini bride
the tear
after cortona I
after cortona II
after cortona III
after cortona IV
in the mirror I
in the mirror II
in the mirror III
in the mirror IV
the invisible woman I
the invisible woman II
once in siena
In these photographs a variety of strategies are used to weave together disparate images drawn from the history of Western European art. Sometimes two different portrait paintings are torn or burned and then fused together to create a new hybrid individual. In others, an illusory mirror casts the viewer in the role of the other. Pietro da Cortona’s famous anatomical engravings meet Greek relief sculptures, their cultural predecessors. A transparent anatomical model appears unexpectedly in a Renaissance painting. Or two swallows cast their shadows over a Sienese painting of the Madonna.
Copies of the book The Seer & The Seen, which includes these photographs and an essay by Alex Martin, may be bought via the contact form on the Resources page.