This single channel video was made for the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands 2021 Biennial. Below is my statement for this new work:

My submitted work for the National Gallery Biennial further explores my interests in photographing the foliage of where I live. In the backyard of our house in Cayman, my father in law has designed a garden full of native plants, fruit trees, palms, and potted orchids. While it may seem a bit chaotic at times, the landscape is a beautiful blend of details reflecting light and differences throughout the year.  And in a year unlike any other, I found myself drawn even more so into the one part of life that changes cyclically and reliably: the landscape provides consistency. Day by day, month by month, subtleties arise in the observations and meditations on where I am in the moment. Similar to the challenges and comforts of our daily experience for nearly a year, my work offers a sense of hope for the calm of an improved future and how to cope with the chaotic details along the way.

In the single channel video “Nostalgic Repetitions: Alson’s Garden, Part One”, I explore the foliage of the garden through a time based sequence of images first recorded as still photographs. The images were focused on the details of plants and the atmospheric lighting at the moment during the early afternoon in July. As details shift in and out of focus, the colors and tones mimic a kind of pacing or rhythm. The still images were set to a moving sequence and re-composed in editing. The arrangement of moving forms offers a modulating sequence with two relative ‘speeds’.  A meditative beginning, middle and end offers a soothing contrast to the sections of fast paced details. These details are not always easy to grasp and when the calm green re-enters the space, a bit of quiet ensues until it is interrupted again.