DRAGON på Pluto

At some point, if not frequently, most of us pause to ask 'What is
the use of my
work, what is my role in society_QMARK_'. Ideally, my
response
would be that through working creatively, I learn.
Through
learning I become more aware of what makes me, of what
I am and
consequently of my place in society.

However, the
actual process of working is not so full of such
positive
notions. Being a part of living, it reflects life and human
nature. Thus,
in working, I face personal demons as well as the
Graces.
Truths, and equally valid yet totally contradictory truths,
manifest
themselves. Like life, I find that work is simultaneously
beautiful and
beastly, sublime and profane, singularly purposeful
and
chaotically deranged.

The glue that
holds all of this together, no matter what one calls it,
is magical,
and defies rational thought. While being rooted in
technique and
process, photography is capable of evoking other
places, other
times and other truths. It presents alternatives and

transformations. In this sense it too defies rational experience, and
seems capable
of triggering emotional resonances.

The current
work has come about from a troubling thought.
Perhaps we
are more fearful of darkness that is barely taking form,
than we are
of absolute darkness. Perhaps this darkness forming is
akin to the
dragons that Hokusai envisioned spewing out of Mount
Fuji, or the
dragons that Rilke wrote of, dragons that are fearful
guardians of
our profoundest treasures.

All the
images are platinum-palladium prints on vellum, made
from 8x10 and
11x14 negatives.

Initially
shown at The Upstairs Gallery, Atlanta as a part of a larger
exhibit, this
set was assembled for 'Dragon', an exhibition at the
Pluto - A
test Site Gallery, Oslo, Norway, November 1999.