Artist Statement – “Relegated: a Series of Found Abstractions”
I have been compelled to photograph abstractions for a variety of personal reasons; I find it rewarding and challenging to cull these subtle designs out of the surroundings.
Much of the drive to photograph withered and age-worn subjects comes from my childhood. We didn’t have many new things growing up, most of our toys were hand-me-downs, homemade, or from the thrift store. I didn’t really know what that meant at the time, and had a great childhood full of imagination and close friends. What it taught me was to be resourceful, and to use what you can get your hands on to your fullest advantage. It also started a lifelong habit of “finding” materials rather than buying, and repurposing things to gain further use.
“Relegated” is an extension of that resourcefulness: finding hidden beauty in odd places, getting a second use out of something forgotten, re-interpreting information left behind on factory walls and rotting piers.
I believe that by closely examining these objects, physical and emotional connections can be perceived by the viewer that far surpasses the materials that they are made of. Magical and spiritual residue can exist in the spaces left between man and nature, and between the obvious and the barely perceptible.
-Dakin Roy