About this Collection
Sometimes creativity is stifled when we are focused on the outcome. So for this residency, I have kept repeating to myself: “nothing serious, nothing serious, nothing serious”. I am focusing on playing. I am focusing on the process. It’s been quite the mental exercise to let go of outcome. I took it really literally and ended up spending the month playing with toys! 🤪
For the month of September 2023 I was spending my time in Sweetpea Gallery's Greenhouse as the artist in residence. My project in the Greenhouse has now come to an end, and I couldn’t be happier with the results 🦕🦖
This project started with a vague idea: photographing objects and having fun/bringing playfulness to my practice😁
I wanted to take a side quest from my usual work (if you know my work you know I thrive with my creative portraiture). It’s easier to make people look interesting in photos because they are dynamic! 📸 We can incorporate movement, expressions and emotions. Photographing inanimate objects and still making them feel dynamic and emotional was the challenge I needed to step outside of comfort.
I chose toys because this whole project was meant to be playful. It was meant to remind me not to take myself too seriously. I decided to spray paint them and play with coloured lighting to encourage the emotional component of the photographs. I chose to do multiple exposures to bring in movement and and make these inanimate objects dynamic.
