White cancer cells that resemble dead fish. There are four fish.
Artist Statement: "Kami are the spirits or phenomena that are worshipped in the ancient Japanese religion of Shinto. It is an animistic religion that incorporates elements of nature, animals, creationary forces in the universe, as well as spirits of the revered deceased.
In Shinto, Kami are not separate from nature, but are of nature, possessing positive and negative, good and evil characteristics. They are manifestations of musubi, the interconnecting energy of the universe and are considered exemplary of what humanity should strive towards. Kami are believed to be "hidden" from this world, and inhabit a complementary existence that mirrors our own shinkai (the world of the Kami). To be in harmony with the awe inspiring aspects of nature is to be conscious of kannagara no michi (the way of the Kami).
Though the word Kami translates multiple ways into English, no one English word expresses its full meaning. Ambiguity in the meaning of Kami is necessary, as it conveys the ambiguous nature of Kami themselves.
In this series, the interpretive nature of the imagery is meant to be "read" as a cosmic message, in the sense of seeing an omen. These kinds of messages from the cosmos mark one's path through life and guide us along the way with an intuitive connection to a greater whole.
Process:
In this photo, I am trying to push the illusion of the silver print beyond the normal black and white point that photographic paper has. In so doing, I work into a wet silver print with selective bleaching, rinse the paper thoroughly, and then work back into the surface with special dye inks to darken the silver further."
