Samples 2003 is a series of photographs and an installation that investigate the human body as a site of artistic and formal exploration. The project shares similarities with medical imagery where parts of the body are seen in isolation. Notions of fragmentation and displacement have been recurrent themes in my work. Samples is also an idiosyncratic portrait series in which the human model is a mere starting point for the creation of metaphoric images that suggests organic living forms. The production of Samples has involved the utilization of a mix media approach including sculptural casting techniques, digital photography, output to archival ink jet plotters and Duratrans transparencies.


Samples mold making.

In the initial stages of Samples a series of molds of human body parts are made. A semi-fluid silicone material is then poured in the molds to create small translucent sculptural forms (Samples imprints). The imprints surface and form retains a perfect resemblance to the rich and multi-faceted shapes and surface of the human body. In the final stage of Samples the silicone imprints are suspended with mechanical props and photographed. Custom lighting techniques are used to provide an ideal means to manipulate the quality and quantity of the light.


Samples mask (left), the imprint (center) and lighting setup.

Throughout my work as a photographer, lighting techniques have been central to my artistic practice. I have used light to manipulate, transform and construct new formal entities that have only a mere resemblance (if any) to the original subject. I considers light a three-dimensional physical form that allows for the creation of complex images and compositions. The Samples series can be considered an evolution of my work that explores the human body and lighting as a mean for artistic expression.

In Samples 2008 the human umbilicus (navel) was cast to create the silicone imprints. When photographing the new imprints all the color gels and laser lights used in the 2003 series were eliminated. The color is striped down to a minimum denominator provided by the tungsten lights illuminating the subject. Depending on the number of lights used, their intensity and the thickness of the silicone imprints, subtle cool to warm variations are obtained. While casting the models, video and sound was shot to document the process of masking the body and creating the positive sculptural imprints. These sequences were used for the creation of the Samples installation video. This video was created animating photographs of models with earlier images from 2003-4 and production footage (casting and mold making). This animation provides an opportunity to collapse all the pre and post-production stages of this work in a time-based event.The irregular circular shape of the navel and its original function in providing nutrients to a growing creature has cosmogonic references to ideas of birth, life, death, growth and decay. The final work also shares similarities with imagery shot with the Hub telescope (black holes and galaxies). The Sample images are printed as Duratrans or archival digital prints.