My short films and installations describe experiences of memory and perception.
I use time-lapse photography, pixilation and high-speed video to observe patterns and rhythms of nature, drawing attention to barely discernible movements and minute changes over time. Using video and film projectors, glass and mirrored surfaces, I re-present these photographic documents in works that explore the shifting and elusive nature of internal imaging and reverie.
I am fascinated by the ways light and glass interact - by the optical effects and colour patterns that are created when one meets the other, and by our sensory and imaginative reactions to them. I am interested in the ways images we receive in the present merge with those we recall from the past - that they are indeterminate and in a constant state of flux.
By combining projected moving imagery with fluid projection surfaces I find ways to make visible these complex and fleeting sensations.
My ongoing series of 'bubble' works throw projected film and video clips into hollow, suspended glass spheres. Expansive landscapes, shifting cityscapes, swimming or dancing figures are miniaturised within the vessels, curving and reflecting around the glass as intimate and ephemeral memory traces. Circular framing devices often recur in my films and installation setups, referencing optical instruments or portholes and calling further attention to the act and experience of looking.
Michaela Nettell, July 2009