A View From Inside and other work

Friday 9th December 2011

6-7pm

University College London

Garwood Lecture Theatre

Gower Street, London

WC1E 6BT

Abstract

In the context of some older photographic works such as 'I' (1999) and After Image' (1997), Alexa will talk about 'A View From Inside', a new series of digitally manipulated portraits made in collaboration with people diagnosed with conditions such as Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder.  These photographs re-appropriate the pictorial convention of characterizing a person visually through his or her physique, stance and expression as well as by the arrangement of particular symbolic and narrative elements within the image. In each case the external appearance and the internal experiences of the person portrayed are depicted within a single, formally structured portrait. The aim is not to exoticise the ‘unreal’ or bizarre perceptual experiences of the subjects, but to find a visual language that will provoke discussion and add to our understanding of the experience of mental illness and of psychosis in particular. The presentation will explore the construction of reality as an embodied experience and will question the notion of 'madness'.

www.alexawright.com