The Other, Animism and The Surfacing Reality.
Welcome to my new blog, where I’ll share the thoughts and discoveries that inform my work.
Three key ideas weave through my practice, bringing together the diverse media I work with: Otherness, Animism, and Surfacing Reality.
My exploration of ‘The Other’ began with the writings of Emmanuel Levinas, particularly his concept of the ‘nakedness of the other’s face’. He suggests that true encounters go beyond beauty, talent, or status—we are touched by someone’s sheer ‘otherness’, which brings both responsibility and limits to self-interest.
For me, Otherness extends beyond human relationships to landscapes, objects, and daily encounters. Their presence—unfiltered and raw—urges me to slow down, observe, and listen.
This led me to Animism, influenced by James Hillman’s writings. He proposes that all things—plants, rocks, water, even ideas—have a soul, a consciousness that speaks when we don’t have an objectifying mindset. His belief that ‘anything can come alive and deeply inform us’ continues to shape my practice.
[1] To The Other’ An Introduction to the Philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, Adriaan Peperzak, Purdue University Press, West Lafayette, Indiana, 1993, p. 20.
The third thread, Surfacing Reality, emerged from George Quasha and Charles Stein’s essay exploring the work of Gary Hill – An Art Of Limina, Gary Hill’s Work and Writing.
The book is a wonderfully comprehensive monograph and in-depth treatment of his work. Surfacing realities, I learnt, takes on a significant and ambiguous role in Hill’s work. The authors coined a formula —Horizon is what makes reality surface. It shifted my perception of how images, projections, and drawings interact with viewers. Does the projected surface conceal, reveal, or transform? Is it a threshold between worlds?
I let the work ask these questions, leaving space for the unknown. Answers may not always come, but the search for new questions is what keeps my practice alive.
All images from The Nakedness of the Face (pencil, linseed oil on polydraw drafting film).
