Evolving in solitude is a strange yet beautiful story of life, death, and rebirth. It is a sharing of quiet transformations undergone in the comfortable isolation of home.
Evolving in Solitude is a narrative photographic series that explores the life, death and rebirth call to action sounded by the dumpster fire known as 2020.
The series consists of five triptychs, each with an elemental theme sharing an intimate glimpse into a metamorphic change undergone from the quiet comforts of home. Each triptych begins with the innocent and curious pupa stage, quickly moving into the growing contraction of the chrysalis, and ending with a welcomed expanse, the spreading of the wings, the realization and acceptance to what currently is.
Each image carries an elemental flavoring, inviting a theme for undergoing change.
- Air for mental clarity, concise communication, and elevated thinking.
- Fire for internal passion, outward action, and creative pursuits.
- Water for reaching into the depth of the unconscious, the mysterious dream realm and remembering your truth.
- Earth for grounding in your longings, secure in your gratitude and abundant in compassion.
- Finally, the fifth element, spirit, soul, God. A call to remember you are a cosmic being, sacred and full of infinite potential.
To create this series, I began in the realm of words. Fashioning what I lovingly refer to as, ‘List Vomits’, I released the archaic mess swarming around my brain onto an unexpecting page. From that organized chaos I found the containers and inspiration I would work within:
- Self Portraits
- A year’s worth of Tuesdays
- Triptychs
- Return to basics
- Voynich Manuscript botanicals
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s ‘The little Prince’
- Paintings by Dorotha Tanning
- And hoarded, repurposed materials
Taking toilet paper rolls, bark, sticks, pine needles, crystals, skewers, egg cartons, packaging materials, yarn, impromptu clearance floral purchases and super sculpty, I methodically built a shell and flower for each element. When everything was constructed, I set my camera on the tripod, grabbed the remote and captured each pose with the alchemical story in mind. After photographing each shell and flower in studio, I brought everything into the computer. In post-production, I digitally combined all the ingredients to create a story that feels strange, surreal and wholly relatable.
