Bean Curve is an exhibition of large-format photographs of purpose-built sculptures. The project uses sculptural approaches, united with the documentary insights, shifts in scale and static timeframes endowed by photography. The unique objects depicted are created solely for the purpose of being photographed. 

The project aims to use the compound medium of sculpture and photography to explore the nature of experience and subtly broaden what can be experienced. We see that the artworks harbor ostensibly singular objects, but they appear to embody multiple histories or generations that undermine a linear description. I guide events to generate vestiges of change that –though they are static as photographs- flux richly with history, potential, properties and a dissonant multitude of identities.

I begin work by making forms, mainly in polymer clay. I then mold, cast, rework and recombine elements in a wide range of materials, most notably organic and other transient materials not often used in sculpture. (Photography as the final presentation allows this possibility). There are several stages involved in the creation of each object, shapes being formed in molds in one material such as plaster, which will then be sculpted by hand and a new mold made from it in which silicon rubber is poured. This can happen numerous times creating a static but visible history and singular but branching identity for each work. Some works feature mold-making of up to twenty components and many generations.

I photograph the sculptures using a custom-made rig to create very large-scale macro-panoramas. I take between 300-500 photographs of each model that are then seamlessly composited to create images of almost microscopic detail, very high resolution and infinite depth of field. The process can take from 3 weeks to over 2 months per artwork, a significant portion of which is spent digitally ‘stitching’ the photographs together.

Combining photography and sculpture allows me to repurpose physical properties of materials that are beyond the scope of sculpture at everyday scales. One example is the different effect of viscosity and gravity at smaller scales. Others are revealing fine structures using macrophotography or being able to capture sculpture in moments of transition, such as decomposition or change of state. Furthermore, the medium enables new freedom in artistic manipulations of time. The different durability of materials become effectively equal when rendered static by photography. I can therefore create assemblages using permanent and transient materials as if they persist for equal duration or for liquids to act as solids, light/soft materials to behave heavy and hard etc. I achieve this by creating components of the photographs in various materials, setting up interactions, then transplant the same form but in a different material. For example:- If a foam object is slumped and compressed by a dense metal object, the roles can be reversed by keeping the forms but switching the materials. Though the results are relatively simple in appearance, a combination of photographic and sculptural devices imbue the artworks with a rich branching history and a dissonant multitude of identities.

that –though they are static as photographs- flux richly with history, potential, properties and a dissonant multitude of identities.