What Is Absent Is Present: A Lens-Based Enquiry into the Spaces Between Representation and Abstraction

Abstract

This project explores the extent to which a photograph can capture the fluid and dynamic process of making observational drawings and ceramics, where the emphasis is placed on the processes of making rather than on a predetermined outcome. I align this approach to making with the philosophical notion of becoming, which suggests that the world of objects is constantly changing and evolving rather than fixed or static. In this context, I employ methods of making that emphasise the processual, such as making and then erasing a drawing. This contrarian method of undoing what has been done dismantles an established hierarchy, where activity—the dynamic nature of making itself—is given priority over substance. Of particular interest is how photography can assist in shifting value from the conventions of making to the acts of making and how these shifts might generate a re-evaluation of the incomplete or redundant aspects of the objects I make.