Experimentation is key to the development of any society. Investigation of uncharted territory is often the most interesting. Alchemists attempt to find meaning in life through philosophical discourse as well as physical experimentation. We should not forget that the transmutation of metals into gold also has a spiritual aspect; gold being a sacred metal, 'perfect', freed from impurities, the alchemical operation must seek to imitate the perfection of nature which is, in the final instance, its absolution and its liberty. The gestation of metals in the bowels of the earth obeys the same temporal rhythms as those which bind man to his carnal and fallen condition; to hasten the growth of metals by the operation of alchemy is tantamount to absolving them from the laws of time. What myths do we as man create? What legends do we inherit and gather? Rather than question the truth of what the image is or is not, I have began to create my own alchemy of an image. As someone intrigued by the history of invention and non-convention my practice has been to say 'what if'? This image making process itself deals with the material nature that has always been present in photography. An amalgamation of the analogue and digital, I shoot with a 4x5 camera to achieve a negative that can be contact printed on a sheet of 4x5 film. The black and white transparency that is produced is then gold leafed to suggest the value of the content of the image, what ever it may be, and then scanned into the computer. Once it exists as a digital print, the image changes drastically, from a two dimensional golden object, into a world that becomes immersive for the viewer, demanding attention and requiring you to look beyond the surface. The content of the images is a detailed human form, the face hidden as if aware of the viewers gaze. With the appliqué of gold, the image is suddenly flattened, yet expanded. The texture of the gold interacts with the image, causing a deterioration of the human form into a golden environment. The images are presented in a circular format referencing ideas of scientific investigation, as well as art history."
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