Epiphanies

Epiphanies is a body of work comprising photographs and sound that questions the way we relate to Nature through the mass production, distribution, and consumption of digitally enhanced photographs of landscapes and natural phenomena. Today, as we are facing unprecedented challenges related to the Anthropocene, it strikes me that we need super-human, or more-than-human assistance. This work is a reinterpretation of the Greek epiphanies (ἐπιφάνεια) which were manifestations of Gods who appeared in Antiquity during times of crisis.

In 2023, an artist residency took me to Crete, a place where mass tourism produces endless streams of photographs of sea and sunsets. In the uncomfortable position of being both a witness and a participant, I set out to make photographs of a woman in communion with the sea. My interest in the Mediterranean Sea parallels my interest in the Canadian forest depicted in my recent work, Dreams of a Place We Have Lived. Both are sites that represent a longing for a more harmonious relationship with the natural world.

Though I had an emotional and visceral experience of the environment I was photographing, I ultimately felt dissatisfied by the photograph’s inability to depict what I’d experienced. This led to Epiphanies, a series of photographic montages depicting encounters between emanations of non-human entities and the female character, as an allegory of my wholistic experience.

This work is inspired by my love of historical paintings depicting myth and spiritual narratives, as well as Surrealist painting, and science fiction. Epiphanies speaks to a desire for emotional and spiritual connection with Nature at a time when it’s increasingly reduced to mere spectacle.