RESEARCH AND THEORY

Meta-crisis: trauma and transformation.

Inspired by Jung's concept of the archetype of the apocalypse and the self, my research focuses on transformation, transcendence, and individuation. My creative practice establishes a dialogue with the unconscious, applying Jung's concept of the transcendent function and the process of active imagination. Analysing the content of my work inspires further development and research.

My creative process involves a search for meaning beyond the physical, drawing on the concept of the sublime, which correlates with individuation that represents a Jungian approach to transcendence.

My experience of fear and awe at the complexity of new technologies has centred my interest on the digital sublime. With the advent of AI, technology is now exponentially powerful; cyberspace is beyond our comprehension and control. Various philosophers, including Daniel Schmactenberger, and  Jonathan Rowson use the term meta-crisis to describe the complexity of interrelating global issues that present an existential threat and a sense of disorder in the postmodern world, which I associate with the archetypal apocalypse. In his book ‘Scorched Earth’, Jonathan Crary describes an ‘intensifying and environment breakdown’. Anxiety and a sense of loss are expressed in response to shifting perspectives resulting in disassociation.

My process incorporates various media: painting, digital media, VR, AI, installation, and video, juxtaposing abstraction with realism to evoke a sense of the disruption experienced in the postmodern era. Photoshop acts as my sketchbook, where I layer appropriated images and previous works to develop new ones. Reinterpreting digital work into a physical painting creates a tangible presence that encourages contemplation in contrast to the proliferation of the image experienced through the screen. The process of transposing digital media into painting on canvas is central to my creative practice and relays my ambivalent relationship with the digital world.

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