2005

"La Cuisine"

This exploration of objects and their shadows is inspired by Man Ray’s photographs and photograms. He believed that the shadow is always “as important as the real object”. For me, the shadows are often more important. The elongated shadows of kitchen implements metamorphose the objects into something far more interesting than their original form implies. These objects are then further transformed as negative or ‘solarised’ images.

Unlike Man Ray who produced his photographs using chemical processes and light sensitive paper in a conventional darkroom, my images are captured with a digital camera and manipulated with computer software. But it is the end result, not the means by which it is achieved, that is important. As Man Ray said, “it is the mind that gives a meaning to an artistic creation”.

My aim as an artist is to provide an unconventional view of the world, but one which people will find interesting and enjoyable. My philosophy is summed up by Degas: “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see”.

Kay Ellis