The works I’m showing in Being Scene 2022 are solargraphs – multi-month photographic exposures captured through pinhole cameras I made myself. These images were made between 2019 and 2021, taken from various locations on the CAMH site, documenting the construction of two new hospital buildings. The streaks of light in the pictures reflect the passage of the sun across the sky during each day of the exposures. I love this process for how it collapses a year into a single frame.

Because of the super-long exposures involved, the original negatives, recorded on traditional silver-based photo paper, remain light-sensitive and can never be made permanent. They can’t be developed or fixed without being destroyed, for the paper has been pushed beyond its limits. Even the light from the scanner used to record the pictures for printing damages them during the scan.

I made these because I wanted to express how each day marks us in ways we can only see in retrospect. The building of a hospital echoes the experiences of those who will attend it. Healing takes time, and patience, and the changes mark us like sunlight on paper, glimpsed through a tiny hole in the dark.

There are four lights: exposure July 2018 – September 2019, 425 days

There will always be a storm: exposure May 2019 – September 2019, 114 days

200 sunsets: exposure July 2019 – February 2020, 203 days

These artworks are also available to Rent. Please contact Josh Vettivelu to learn more or read the Art Sales & Rental About page for further details.

This stool pays homage to the paper cuttings Matisse made. In using simple shapes, he was able to realize complex shapes and ideas as simple silhouettes. I pay attention to the idea of intersection in arranging these blobs and flourishes on the embroidered top of this stool.

The perceived “overlaps” calls attention to the way in which objects can share spaces by means of just intersecting. Just as in art, the practice of intersection and overlap is vital to a healthy thriving community. Especially given the joined power of collectives and the lack of space to accommodate individuals alone, I hope this piece reminds audiences of the way in which interactions contribute to the vitality of their quotidian life.

For this piece, I also chose to lay the embroidery on a stool instead of displaying it as a lone wall hanging in aim of practicality. This piece is both aesthetically intriguing and practical in any home, however large or small, eclectic or modern.

These artworks are also available to Rent. Please contact Josh Vettivelu to learn more or read the Art Sales & Rental About page for further details.