Stellar Curves, 2004 (series)

Outdated and anthropomorphic drafting tools (French curves) are the first of many subjects captured by the artist using a scanner in place of a camera. During the rise of digital photography, the artist’s longtime impulse to push the limits of conventional photography led him towards seeking out experimental approaches to image making. This work was made with a flatbed scanner in place of a camera – in effect, a hack, which the artist terms capturing. The tools, captured against an ethereal background of ambient light, dust, fingerprints and smudges is suggestive of celestial bodies or deep-sea flora and fauna. The title of this series, Stellar Curves, is alludes to the Exotic Bird paintings of Frank Stella.