The Dreaming State

I’m working on an installation involving a bright white light seeping out from behind a thin tear in the black wall. I like how I am aware that it is just a wall, but the effect created makes it feel like there is another space exterior to the wall… While working and observing the installation I had to pause to take a self portrait with the strange glow.

I had gathered a bunch of sticks from my yard many weeks ago but had no plans for them. An idea finally came to me inspired by a portrait of Ram Dass, the spiritual teacher, meditating in front of a beautiful circular wall hanging. I began to cut the sticks and wrap them together using twine.

This photograph was not digitally altered in any way. While hiking around the Lehigh Gorge State Park I noticed a strange color in the water. The way the sun was hitting the green trees on the hill and reflecting off this river created a really weird yellow glow. Even to the naked eye it felt unreal.

I picked a leaf, pressed it and photographed it. I then lit the leaf on fire, collected its ashes, mixed them with a little water, and poured the liquid into an empty inkjet cartridge. The final product is a digital inkjet print of a leaf using itself as the medium.

This is a thirty minute exposure of a half moon setting on a cloudy night.