Imprints of the Southern Sun

Imprints of the Southern Sun is a body of work consisting of lumen prints created during the time of a global pandemic. Having incorporated botanical specimens into my work in the past, I was drawn to collecting specimens on walks, saving flowers sent from my family I knew I was not going to see in the near future, experimenting with rotting fruit (not wanting to waste any grocery store purchase), and pressing trimmings from my garden. This collection of botanical specimens and photographic darkroom paper is laid out in the sun and then fixed with a diluted mixture of water and photographic fixer chemistry.

They serve as mementos from this trying time, a time in a state of constant flux and unknown. The unknown outcome of how the sun, paper, and plant matter create a photographic image that serves as a metaphor for the state of the world as we know it today. The end result is not always beautiful, it is hazy, and indistinguishable. While we, as human beings, may not be able to quite understand the state we are in, or see a “light at the end of the tunnel”, we know that it is possible that there is beauty lurking on the other side. To all those that lost loved ones in 2020, I dedicate this body of work to you.