Diana Blok
Living Leaves
7 September – 3 October
Performance Dienke Groenhout – Ferengi
Saturday 7 september 15.00-17.00H at the Noordermarkt market
LIVING LEAVES embodies a selection of 30-40 portraits of leaves created during a 5-month period in the high desert of Brazil during the 2021-2022 pandemic.
Circumstances brought about by the pandemic had me with an iPhone 12-pro as my main tool. Experimentation with its capacity made me realize that, opposed to a mirror reflex camera, it could be used in a similar way as the old Leica 4. The results were surprisingly interesting. What the eye saw and the spirit felt was revealed. This resulted in what curators later told me: ‘…an extended practice of contemporary art’, which merges photography and painting. A visual image is produced, which is not commonly seen. Not by way of Photoshop or collage but through observation of light and object. And simple technical knowledge. Certain Photoshop filters do add to the quality of large-scale prints. However, I have no recollection of ever employing such a simple approach as in this body of work.
Whether it is the invisible qualities in a human portrait or of leaves at the end of their cycle of existence, with regards to the essence, both are equally fascinating to me. The intrinsic value, often not visible to the conditioned eye, is where my interest lies. Familiar becomes unfamiliar. A moment of sudden insight.
Tapping into alternative levels of consciousness to access archetypes was a significant part in the process of photographing these leaves in their final stages. They spoke without sound. As in an alchemical process of retroaction.
The process and ensuing results were fascinating to a degree that I envisaged the publication of a large format book wherein the uniqueness, diversity and significance of leaves could be observed and felt. With Esther Noyons as designer and Kenyan performer and writer Ogutu Muraya this fine art publication presented here was realized in 2024.
Every fallen leaf becomes a conversation piece. Extracting the maximum from the minimum through the imagination is a unique exploration.
Since 1975 I have been investigating strategies which trigger the mind towards exploration of alternative awareness and perceptions. Of understanding in areas of identity, gender and sexual diversity by way of imagination and improvisation. To register the essence and the intrinsic value of a human portrait or a leaf in the simplest way possible, the camera has been my tool.
My approach to staged photographs has always felt like a ritual whereby in a very short space of time a key moment can be frozen in time. I have always observed and accented a sense of otherness. Breaking through established modes of thinking. Acting through uncomfortable and contrasting representation.
