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work /
I wance met Jesus in a coille, 2021
This project was Inspired by J.G. Ballard’s “The Atrocity Exhibition”, in particular the prescient, psychosexual 1967 piece, “Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan”, as well as the strange case of Ron dos Santos, a prolific pyromaniac, who purported to have religious experiences during arson and who would often leave written manifestos at his crime scenes (usually forests).
Developed following new research of the archives of the Institute of Legal Medicine & Forensic Sciences (Portugal), this project can be seen as a speculative investigation of the relationship between fire and death, pyromania and desire.
By focusing on the hand, as my primary subject, the images guide us through a visual journey of our worst fears, impulses, anxieties and apprehensions.
As an organ of performance the hand serves as eyes for the blind, the mute talk with it, and it has become a symbol of salutation, supplication, and condemnation.
But in a sense the human hand is a paradox. The hand is used as a tool, as a symbol, and as a weapon. It is the hand that writes the letter, that sets the fire, that takes the life.
Each image within this project is a condensed novel. The series can be seen as a psychological study, a cataloguing of a series of disturbing experiments.
The line between inner and outer landscape has crumbled, the random universe of the modern age has broken down into cryptic fragments.
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Foiled forest fire site
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Forest Fire #1
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Forensic examination #1 (Testing magnifying device used to set fire)
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Displaced wildlife
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Untitled
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Untitled
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Forensic evidence # 1 (match used to set fire)
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Emergency first-aid on individual due to smoke inhalation
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Forensic examination #1 (Examining suspect’s hand)
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Suicide letter #1
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Forensic evidence #1
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Forensic evidence #2 (Kindling materials found in forest fire site)
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Identifying suspects, from a crowd
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Campaigners & protestors
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Untitled
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Campaigners & protestors
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Forest Fire #2
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Suicide letter #2
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Forensic Evidence #3 (Deformities on wildlife caused by ecological disasters such as fires)
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Forensic Evidence #4 (Burns)
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Forensic examination #2
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Forensic examination #3 (Testing device used to set fire)
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Untitled
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Forensic examination #4 (Examining suspect)
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Forensic examination #5 (Examining suspect’s arms)
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Forest Fire #3
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Suicide letter #3
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Forensic examination #6
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Untitled