Response
Three photographic works: ‘Imagination’. ‘Impression’, ‘Memory’ (2020) by Vivi-Mari Carpelan
(photos further down the page)
As far back as I can remember, I’ve been interested in expressing ways in which the intangible self comprehends itself in relation to the body, its environment, and the collective mind. To me, the world has been a stage upon which I have acted out my world view and the exhausting process of managing an unmanageable body. I’ve attempted to expose the otherwise invisible inner processes of transformation, mental processing and existential query through various artistic media. I’ve been especially fascinated with the expression of beauty through roughness and decay, and have enjoyed collaging and layering images and sounds in order to create a sense of deeper emotional truths.
Over the years, I’ve experienced increasing limitations on my ability to engage with the external world, and this has had a great impact on my art. Due to different kinds of physical limitations, I’ve had to simplify the artistic processes. In the past few years, I’ve done most of my work on an iPhone in a simple app for double exposure that encourages new associations and happy accidents, all the while reclining comfortably on my couch.
The more isolation and physical limitations I experience, the more urgently my memories seem to call on my attention. I’m forced to retreat into my inner world and explore it to the best of my ability. But I suffer from a degree of aphantasia, so my memories are not visually clear at all. To help recall visual experiences of the past, I layer photos I’ve taken in the past with current ones taken in my immediate surroundings. By layering several images I’m able to conjure up an impression of reality that says as much about my way of perceiving and processing reality, as it says about the way I observed the environment in the past. My work lies at the crossroads of inner and outer reality, in the mental melting pot where deeper meaning emerges out of a visual perception of the external world.
The series of work I’m presenting for ‘Outdoors:Indoors’ hovers in the liminal space between the reality I have perceived in the past, and how I imagine this reality in the present. A raging storm, an eerily silent church yard and the negative space of an ancient castle, may not represent your typical ideas of the beautiful Welsh landscape. This is, however, how it presents itself as a conglomerate in my immediate surroundings, in my photos, in my memory and in my imagination. The scenery appears empty because I am not there. I am not sure I dare imagine a future with myself out in the world.
The images were conceived during times of rampant storms, floods and a great pandemic. The great outdoors becomes a stage upon which the great forces of nature act and impress themselves on our bodies and minds and change our lives forever, but to appreciate the process is to imagine it.
Artist Statement:
In this work, I have layered photographs to express how my perception of external reality becomes an internal experience of the imagination. Some of the photos were taken in Aberystwyth back when I could still travel, while others were shot right outside my door and from my window.
Physical restrictions have compelled me to invent an uncomplicated way of working. I superimpose my photos on an iPhone in creative dialogue with a simple digital algorithm. I try things out and play rather than set out to control the outcome. Despite the relaxed approach, the layering transforms simple snapshots into complex imagery that feels intentional, personal and true. The method reflects my belief that limitations can encourage an expansion of the mind.
My pieces represent the ambiguous, yet stratified, workings of the human mind. Past, present and future coalesce in my headspace: memories of beautiful places co-exist with an appreciation of my immediate surroundings. All the while, the tormenting fear of never ending isolation sets the emotional tone. In addition, the forces of nature that battered our homes earlier in 2020, and the eerie stillness of death that surrounds us, all form part of a general need to cry and let go.
There is a more detailed description of my intentions in the ‘Artwork’ section: Photography 2018-2020: Mind Stuff (2020).
Audio description of the work:
For this year’s Disabiity Arts Cymru art exhibition, the selected artists were asked to participate in a workshop about audio describing their work to a visually impaired audience. I found it quite an interesting exercise and had a difficult time keeping the descriptions as short as possible. Due to worsening Hyperacusis (pain from sounds) someone else will record the blurbs.
Imagination
// This is a photograph consisting of several superimposed images that create the visual impression of a storm. The subtle monochrome hues of grey and the misty atmosphere contribute to a sense of eeriness. Images of the trunks and branches of deciduous trees have been layered to create the sense of a forest battered by a strong wind. The left hand side is in the shadow, while the right hand side bathes in light. There are strong streaks and small blotches across the landscape that suggest the movements of the storm, and a flock of birds seem to be struggling against the wind. //
Impression
// This is a photograph consisting of subtly layered images in soft hues of grey, and it looks misty, eerie and slightly surreal. There’s a spacious cemetery with tall trees to the left, straight rows of gravestones, and an erratically placed telephone pole in the middle. The background has faded into white nothingness. There’s soft, watery texture all across the picture that suggests looking through a window that’s battered with rain, and this makes the image seem dreamy. You can just about make out the shape of some trees that could, in fact, be a reflection in the window. It looks incredibly quiet, as though time has stopped. //
Memory
// This is an inverted photograph based on several superimposed images, so dark objects appear light grey against a dark grey backdrop. There’s a subtle sense of spatial distortion and ghostliness. In the background to the left, you can make out the tall Victorian memorial in Aberystwyth, some trees in the middle, and an old castle ruin in the foreground to the right. Four large migrating swans are traversing the image from right to left. The scene is reminiscent of a fading, misremembered and slightly jumbled memory. //
CONCLUSION
Due to Covid, the exhibition isn’t currently on tour, but will be presented as an online magazine until further notice. Sadly the judges of the show didn’t appreciate the thought I had put into this work. The many layers of imagery and meaning attempted to address the ambiguity between indoors and outdoors and ways in which photos and the immediate environment can serve as a point of reference for an internal process of the mind. Most importantly, I was trying to answer the question ‘what do you do if you cannot go out and take part in the beautiful Welsh landscape’. My simple answer is that you resort to your imagination. However, I am not simply pointing to the products of the imagination. Instead, I have tried to show glimpses of the inner workings of the mind themselves, as well as the ways in which I speak in dialogue with technology in order to illustrate the external, technical aspect of this process. One reflects the other in endless feedback loops. I encourage the viewer to look at the work in terms of a multifaceted reality that isn’t only about the things we see with our own eyes. I nevertheless, also want to express gratitude for the privilege of living in a country that has beauty everywhere, and not just in beauty spots. The views from my windows are really astonishing.