Burning Man
Series (2022.08 - 2022.09)
Archival inkjet photograph on cotton rag
16 x 24 inches
Edition 1 of 10, 2 AP
2022
The Black Rock Playa in Northwestern Nevada is the site of the annual Burning Man festival. Each year, artists gather to showcase their work on a flatbed amidst the desert of the American West. When a sandstorm sweeps through the playa on an otherwise clear, sunny day, the light, sound, and visibility of the environment shift with each passing moment. Every gust of wind carries a varying density of dust, causing the figures to pulsate, imbuing static objects with life. A magnitude of image reproductions depicting the installations accumulate throughout the festival, introducing an artifice to the event as visual phenomena. For instance, ‘Elephant I’ draws from multiple layers of reproduction — beginning with Salvador Dalí’s 1948 oil painting ‘Los elefantes’, followed by its 2022 installation reinterpretation ‘Homage au Dalí’ by Jack Champion, and culminating in a black-and-white photograph that references its predecessors. The series isolates each installation from the ‘Burning Man’ hashtag; presenting them as fleeting objects. Yet another indecisive reproduction emerges, juxtaposed with the decisive snapshot of cyclists passing through the image frame.
Chosen Winner of American Photography 40.
Museé Magazine Feature
Elephant I, 2022
Whale, 2022
Ladder II, 2022
Slide, 2022
Elephant II, 2022
Ladder I, 2022
Roundabout, 2022
Tail, 2022
Bed, 2022