WHAT HOLDS
IN BARE PRESENCE
WHAT HOLDS: FROM BENEATH IS A WORKING PROJECT THAT BEGINS WITH MEMORY AS BODY — FRAGMENTS THAT, WHEN REVISITED, REVEAL THE STRUCTURE OF THE PRESENT. RATHER THAN REBUILDING, THE WORK OBSERVES WHAT PERSISTS: PHOTOGRAPHS, THOUGHTS, TEXTS, AND TRACES. WHAT RESISTS BECOMES MATERIAL.
THE MATERIAL SHOWN HERE BELONGS TO THE THIRD CHAPTER OF THE PROJECT, THE LONG HOPE. THIS SECTION CENTERS ON ABSENCE, FRAGILITY, AND WAITING, CONNECTING PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH THAT OF DISPLACED COMMUNITIES AT THE MYANMAR–THAI BORDER. THE WORK EXPANDS INTO INSTALLATION AND FILM, SHIFTING FROM A CONTAINED NARRATIVE INTO AN EXPERIENCE.
MY FIRST VISIT TO MYANMAR IN 2011 MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THIS SEARCH. BENEATH POLITICAL TENSION, I ENCOUNTERED A GROUNDED PRESENCE — A WAY OF BEING ANCHORED IN THE PRESENT — THAT SLOWED MY GAZE AND STAYED WITH ME.
WHAT RESIST BECOMES MATERIAL
IN TRANSIT
THE IMAGES SHOWN HERE COME PRIMARILY FROM THAT FIRST JOURNEY AND EARLY VISITS TO THE THAI–MYANMAR BORDER. THEY MARK THE MOMENT WHEN OBSERVATION BEGINS TO BRUSH AGAINST MIGRATION.
INITIALLY MATERIALIZED THROUGH GICLÉE PRINTS ON COTTON AND BAMBOO PAPERS, THE WORK REMAINED CLOSE TO THE MOMENT OF ENCOUNTER, HOLDING IMAGES INTACT BEFORE THE PROJECT BEGAN TO FRACTURE.
BETWEEN 2013 AND 2015, I RETURNED REPEATEDLY, FOLLOWING FRAGMENTS OF DAILY LIFE SHAPED BY WAITING AND IMPERMANENCE. WHAT BEGAN AS OBSERVATION BECAME CONNECTION, BUILT THROUGH TIME, REPETITION, AND PROXIMITY.
THE RUPTURE
NEARLY A DECADE LATER, I RETURNED TO FRACTURED MEMORY. THE BOND REMAINED, BUT ITS STRUCTURE HAD FAILED. THE RUPTURE APPEARED IN MY METHOD: INTIMACY WITHOUT A LANGUAGE TO HOLD IT.
I TREATED MY OWN WORK AS ARCHIVE, RETURNING TO EARLIER IMAGES THROUGH FILM AND WET-PLATE COLLODION. CRACKS AND CHEMICAL MARKS BECAME MATERIAL FACTS, NOT ERRORS. EACH PLATE EXISTED AS A FRAGILE OBJECT, WITH LIMITS.
THE GOAL WAS NOT COHERENCE, BUT RESONANCE — WORKING FORWARD THROUGH REPETITION AND FAILURE.
THE GOAL WAS NOT COHERENCE, BUT RESONANCE
FROM INSIDE OUT
THIS PHASE MARKS A SHIFT FROM OBSERVATION TO EXCHANGE. PORTRAITS WERE RETURNED TO THE PEOPLE PORTRAYED, NOT AS FINISHED OBJECTS BUT AS OPEN SURFACES.
EACH IMAGE WAS PLACED INSIDE A MAT AND GIVEN BACK, INVITING HANDWRITING TO ENTER THE WORK. WORDS DO NOT EXPLAIN THE IMAGE; THEY INTERRUPT IT, RESIST CLOSURE, AND EXPAND ITS MEANING.
THE MAT FUNCTIONS AS A THRESHOLD. THE PHOTOGRAPH IS REPLACED, BUT THE WRITING REMAINS, HOLDING MULTIPLE MOMENTS AT ONCE.
THE PHOTOGRAPH BECOMES A SHARED SURFACE
THE CONVERGENCE
I RETURNED TO THE BORDER IN 2024. THE PRESENT UNSETTLED ME MORE THAN IT INVITED ME TO PHOTOGRAPH. IMAGES ARE NO LONGER RECORDS OF WHAT IS SEEN; THEY ARE SURFACES WHERE QUESTIONS EMERGE AND RECEDE.
THE WORK TURNED INWARD. THE CAMERA SHIFTED FROM A TOOL OF CAPTURE TO A DETECTOR OF WHAT RESISTS BEING NAMED.
RETURNING TO THE PEOPLE I MET YEARS AGO BROUGHT THE PROJECT BACK TO ITS CORE. FOR THEM, UNCERTAINTY IS NOT ABSTRACT — IT PERMEATES DAILY LIFE. FROM THEM, I DRAW A QUIET PERSISTENCE: THE ACT OF STAYING PRESENT WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT COMES NEXT.