Timeless

LaRiviere_Mixed_States-8

This is what I know…
The core of being
is a timeless ghost
born yesterday
and every day
through every word
and every thought
caressing the heart
of the matter.
 
Me?
I am ageless—
the same as yesterday,
with tomorrow frozen
in last night’s dream
of what will be
but never is
because this morning,
to no one’s surprise,
it was today,
and I am still
right here
right now
forever in this moment.
 
Oh, but for today…
that place,
that state,
that familiar constant
where time stands still,
and where we breathe
the essence of ourselves
until the last exhale,
which will not be tomorrow
but some other today
not unlike this one.
 
Yet… anchored as I am to the moment,
I no longer recognize myself,
not in the mirror,
not in the mortal reflection
of my outer shell
no…
but oh,
in the photos,
in the miracle of arrested time traveled
forward and permanently captured
oh yes,
there is the soul of me
the familiar one
suspended in animation
transcending the veil of decay.

The past twenty four hours have been insanely productive with much thought, contemplation, and creation. Yesterday I was feeling out of sorts, in a rut, and thinking that I was in need of a new metaphor for my life. I’m done riding the roller coaster… there’s got to be another picture that fits. The image below was an attempt to articulate the feeling, which got me thinking about these old photos of myself that have been surfacing, which then split off in two different directionsone in the form of a fully formulated project, MIXED STATES, and the other in the form of the poem above, Timeless.

New MetaphorAnd that’s how I roll… barely at all, or fast and hard in explosive creativity. The images below are from the Mixed States Project, fully fledged and barely twelve hours old. Enjoy, and thanks so much for stopping by.

Revisiting the Colosseum

Coliseum FrontSo… I’m still sifting through those 20+ thousand never seen by anyone (including me) photos buried in my computer. Last night I found these, processed them through Lightroom, and although they are interesting in colour, black and white just seems to transform them into something purely magical. The photos were taken during my trip to Italy in 2010 where three of my works were featured at an international exhibition. My return flight was out of Rome, so I had time to “roam” around the city a bit.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that, being Sunday in the home of the Roman Catholic Church, stores were CLOSED (my plan had been to buy a pair of Italian boots and then go sightseeing). So… I ventured out and eventually found myself walking up the busy via Labicana hoping that something somewhere might be open. Suddenly I noticed the Colosseum up ahead in the distance. It was so unexpected, such a powerful OMIGAWD moment–how could such an ancient landmark possibly be situated on a bustling urban street?! I practically ran the rest of the way in my excitement, relieved to be scratching off one of the big items on my Rome To-do List so soon. And even better, by pure chance admission was free to all museums and heritage sites that weekend, so I got to hang out at the Colosseum until closing time and sunset. It was so relaxed, not terribly crowded, and truly amazing! Here are a few of the full colour shots. Enjoy!

 

Ophélie: un état d’âme

Ophélie: un état d'âme

Inspired by Sir John Everett Millais’ painting, Ophelia, from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, I spent several years documenting staged scenes in and under water (both in photography and video), but only a fraction of the material was ever used – for a short video entitled, Hush, and a series of digital collages, including Incommunicado.

The photos depicted here are from a shoot in 2009 that took place in Quebec, where I spent a weekend with a group of artist friends from Montreal and Paris. Alex (above) was making a short film, in which we all took part, either as actors or grips, and I was working on my Ophelia Project, for which my friends spent hours floating in a chilly stream.

Somehow along the way my project stalled, and the photos remained buried in my computer until now. I’ve begun the process of shortlisting and editing a selection in order to finally bring this work to light.

This post is in honour of Alex, who passed away earlier this year. He would have wanted me to finish what I started. This is the beginning.

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