Red Laser Statement
Using a Red Laser Level as a lighting tool, I explore a variety of images expressing conflicting emotions and thoughts, ultimately creating a rich story within well-defined means. The red laser both directs the viewer’s eye and distracts it from other parts of the images. There is a quality of revealing part of the scene, while keeping other parts purposefully in darkness and mystery. So one’s experience of the images is highly edited and you are left to wonder what lurks beyond the exposed parts. There are feelings of fire and alarm, but also, at times, a kind of "divine" illumination that comes out of the scenes. Sometimes the light says “stop” and sometimes it draws you in. You get both devastation and a fairy world. At times it seems as if aliens have landed and they can’t quite figure out what this world is. They’re searching for answers in the pieces given, but it doesn't add up. So overall, there is a complexity of feeling brought up by the group of images – scary and alluring, both a warning and an invitation; sometimes expressing fear and danger and sometimes expressing joy and wonder. There's an inherent struggle as to which impulses will win out.