Uncertainties is a series of photographic prints that I made during my studio residency at the Florence Trust, London. The work is produced as limited edition archival prints and is usually displayed mounted on aluminum. Focusing on aspects of attachment theory such as engulfment and containment, the photographs reflect insights from my parallel career in psychological research. When making the work I was interested in transforming everyday, corporal materials into psychological spaces. The photographs were created by making small installations using body lotions and creams and through an established working method of careful movement of both liquids and light source and close-up focus of the camera. No digital manipulation was employed.
Alex Boyd, who has curated the series at the Midlands Arts Centre (mac), Birmingham describes the work:- ''Aesthetically, there is a play on scale where a tension prevails between the macro and the micro essence of the work. It is this push and pull between the everyday and the ethereal that tugs at our consciousness. The series is titled 'Uncertainties' to encourage us to examine our responses to the photographic prints. How do they make us feel? Do they remind us of a particular time or place? Have we been here before? These are only some of the questions we might ask or find ourselves thinking about. Individual pieces may provide an immediate response, while others make take longer to penetrate our minds".
In two solo shows I invited viewers to share their responses to Uncertainties with each other for the duration of the exhibition - at the Midland's Art Centre several hundred people left their comments - some of these are shown below:-
Uncertainties 5 selected comments Alone Some kind of animal head Death Like ships in the night I feel like i’m in the middle of the ocean The horizon of change Light at the end of the tunnel A little boat in the middle of the ocean Sewn up mouth freaks From the perspective of a beach a figure is disappearing or returning Front view of an albino dolphin Ocean at night Foetus(ish) Spine X-ray of a sinister duck! A teaspoon Atomic bomb The sun going down The last flicker of hope about to be extinguished Coffee, easy Sunday mornings
Uncertainties 13 selected comments Diving into the unknown with a clouded and misty future Fly fishing with dad Lonely Martian Evil entering heaven. Pandora’s white creature of hope in reverse A drop in the ocean - time frozen for an instant Rare glimpse of the Loch Ness monster going home for tea! Snowscape clouds meeting the horizon, mysterious winged creature flying by A diver surfacing
I remember when I was 18 or so I would go to nightclubs in Manchester and take E or acid and shadows shifting up and down the walls swans, red glass purred me to sleep candle at my mum's ornaments...
The show is a reflection of Liu Bolin's multifaceted and complex view of contemporary society and culture. The critically acclaimed and internationally renowned artist will release the first works of a new series, Hiding in California.
