Statuesque Eclosion (2024)

Eclosion is an emergence, specifically that of an insect from a pupal case when becoming something new. Inside, the insect is melting, metamorphosing and reforming into what it must become. Moments of solitude, whispers of growth and the promise of change, all melting together and on display for all to see. Cocoons or chrysalises are created for protection while a being is in its most vulnerable state, only emerging beyond the walls when it has refined the chaos it once was and physically manifested into a state it needs to become. The confines and pressures of society provide reasoning for encasing ourselves into a protective state―when we decide to grow beyond what energies push against us, what could we become?

Taking chiffon fabric and dramatic but soft lighting, I have created a series of 35mm film images printed as silver gelatin darkroom prints to represent that very motion; eclosion. The statuesque imagery creates a sense of stillness―the subject in the photo has been dormant in a state of contemplation, unable to move from its isolated space; also represented by the dark background. This work also alludes to the idea that others have carved what you were but you are becoming what you believe you truly are and should be.