The Lovers - Artist Statement

The Lovers series explores relationships both human and formal. Each individual image is a portrait of friends who are also lovers. In total I have captured four couples in a lyrical almost absurdist manner. Through the depiction of each couple in a playful dalliance, dynamics are revealed that provide insight into the workings or mechanics of the relationship.

Throughout the image making process I have been preoccupied with representation of space in an effort to contain a dynamic relationship. Throughout this process the manipulation of space common in the work of artist Francis Bacon has been an influential focus. Similarly, in my series The Lovers I have explored the notion of space as an arena to contain the interaction between the figures and to separate it from the undefined area of the image, moreover from the continuity of the real world. This in effect prevents the images from retaining the atmosphere of the external world and works to isolate the relationships and instill them with their own logic, rules and possibilities.