Photomontage
RHIANNON ADAM
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This body of work consists of large-scale Polaroid emulsion lift photomontage’s, creating fantastical locations that span time and geography. Each unique piece is created from a series of lifts, composited, montaged, and rearranged onto a new substrate, in this case, watercolor paper. The pieces are tactile and textural, and embrace error and imperfection.
Taking reference from the composite images created by the lunar surveyor that photographed the moon’s surface, these works occupy the boundary between fact and fiction. A Polaroid cannot be faked, and each one is a “true” original, but when composited in this way, a fictional landscape is built that encourages us to question what is real. This is an entirely analogue process, but can be seen to relate to digital compositing processes more commonly used in commercial photography.
The lifting process is a delicate one, where the Polaroid’s emulsion is removed from its native backing using boiling water, is cleaned and washed, and then finally transferred to the composition one by one. With each image, there is only one opportunity for a successful lift, with the fragile gelatinous image being prone to breakages. The oldest images must be treated differently than the newest shots during the lift process, as the material hardens over time.
Creating the imagery for each piece involves a painstaking gathering process, as each piece contains up to 150 individual Polaroids shot on expired Polaroid pack film which is increasingly difficult to obtain. Individual images are photographed in situ at different locations and countries, some being over a year old before becoming a part of the final work. The translucent nature of the lifts must be considered at all times during shooting, with each image being purposefully overexposed to create an airiness and lightness, allowing them to be layered. Though the process ifs photographic, each work avoids replication. In this way, at first glance, the pieces appear to be images of real places, but after closer examination it becomes clear that the perspective is off, that shadows lie in opposite directions. The images are taken wherever the artist travels, becoming a diaristic rendition of her experience, resembling a mind-map of her interests over the course of time. In these works, the influence of her impending journey to space can be clearly seen, emerging through pictures of rocket launches and subtle nods to Martian landscapes.
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Available work is listed below
All price and commission enquiries, contact:
tom@opendoors.gallery