Shellye Tow

Project Statement: 

The work explores the human experience through a series of light experiments. Light is a radiation that everyone experiences uniquely. Regardless of the source – the rays of the sun, the beaming moon light, or the artificial light of our interiors – light is needed and serves all of humanity. We all experiences light in countless ways, as well as utilize its many applications for metaphors and abstract concepts including the spiritual, emotional, and our daily experiences. The encompassing theme of this work is to create images that explore light and experimental photographic processes to create dimensional pieces that demonstrate the physical form of the two. 

The images contain only a few objects, allowing the light to be the focus. The images created revolve around themes of experimentation, light, and the physical form. The experimental work uses handmade cameras to manipulate light and film in new ways, and the entire series utilizes analog photography processes.

The work aims to simultaneously pay homage to the human experience of light and its physical properties in a contemporary art practice. The unique abstract pieces are a reminder that we each experience light in an infinite number of distinctive ways.