History Inverted, 2010
ARTIST STATEMENT
The true picture of the past flits by. The past can be seized only as an image which flashes up at the instant when it can be recognized and is never seen again. -Walter Benjamin, 1892-1940
The past resides within images of space and transition arising as momentary instances of recognition and flickers of occurrence. Subjects, intrinsic and obscure, are often lost to more romantic notions of change. Memory is not bound to a seamless chronology but exists as a collection of disparate accumulations referenced in the present while informing on what’s past.
The photograph is a natural complement to the visual nature of history. Readings of space fill accumulated
voids that manifest with the elapse of time. Images isolate progression and tentatively speak to the visual nature of change. Layers of occurrence accumulated over time speak to concepts and associated narratives.
The image as a catalyst of exploration and exchange resists constructed hierarchies within the visual world. In this manner, the photograph stands to challenge the ritual of commemorative culmination. Visual renderings within the photographic frame act as an instigation in conceptualizing the nature of a subject rather than as a memorial to the past it represents.
M.Walker, 2024