CATHARSIS

2020-2023

Catharsis is rooted in the friction between invisible pain and public life, between sensation and representation. Originating during a period of isolation, the work explores how the body processes trauma through repetition, movement, and ritual. Small actions such as running barefoot, setting the tripod, and returning to the same terrain become both memory cues and somatic interventions. Large-scale analog prints render fleeting sensations visible. Their tonal shifts and physical scale ask the viewer to slow down, to inhabit a state where pain is neither dramatized nor hidden, but acknowledged. The work resists the pressure to resolve. Instead, it offers a space where discomfort, healing, and contradiction coexist. Catharsis evolved as a way to stay with what could not be fully verbalized. It speaks to the duplicity of living with an unseeable condition and the paradox of needing to recreate pain in order to release it. The camera becomes both witness and collaborator. Through film’s inherent slowness, I found a way to retrain my attention and re-inhabit a body shaped by nervous system feedback loops. Returning to the rural Virginia landscape where I was raised, with its root systems, familiar flora, and proximity to my mother, created a grounded context for recovery. Nature does not solve, but it steadies. This project is not about overcoming. It is about creating space within repetition and within the everyday where something like relief can take shape.

A dark art gallery with black and white photographs displayed along a white wall. The photographs depict nature scenes and a person. The gallery has a reflective floor and a simple, minimal setup.
Black and white photographs displayed on a white gallery wall in an art exhibition, with reflected light on the polished floor.
An art gallery with black and white photographs on the wall and two white benches on a tiled floor.
Empty art gallery with black and white photographs on the wall, a digital display on the left showing two hands, and a white bench in the center.
Black and white photographs displayed on a gallery wall, showcasing snow-covered trees and outdoor winter scenes in an art gallery with white walls and tiled floor.
Four black-and-white photographs displayed on a gallery wall, featuring a forest scene with fallen logs, a person crouching in the woods, a body of water, and a close-up of a person's torso and bent legs.
A projection on a wall displaying an abstract image with green and blue colors and yellow text that reads "there's no time for this." In front of the projection, there is a white bench on a tiled floor.
Black and white photograph of dark storm clouds in the sky.
Black and white photograph of a cloudy sky with various cloud formations and patches of dark sky visible.
Black and white photo of a forest scene with a large tree leaning over a small creek or stream, surrounded by bushes and dense foliage.
Fallen tree with exposed roots and tangled branches in a forest, black and white photograph.
A person with a nude body in a forest, lying on a fallen log with their head hidden behind the log, with forest trees and fallen leaves surrounding them.
Black and white photo of a dense forest with tall trees and underbrush.
A black-and-white photo of a gravelly outdoor surface with foliage overhead, illuminated by a focused light.
Nude woman crouching on a dirt forest trail surrounded by trees and fallen leaves.
Black and white photo of fallen tree logs on leaf-covered ground in a forest with trees in the background.
Thick forest with dense trees, bushes, and an abundance of leaves, characterized by black and white tones.
Snow-covered forest with large trees and small branches protruding from the snow.
A nude person with long hair sitting outdoors on ground covered with fallen leaves and dirt, facing away from the camera.
Snow-covered pine and deciduous trees in a winter forest scene with snow on the ground.
A person kneels on the snow in a forest, surrounded by tall trees with snow-covered branches.
Blurred black and white image of tree leaves and branches.