Bypassing The Rational

Photography has flooded our world with images of ourselves. We are accustomed to seeing and assessing images of people constantly, most of whom are celebrities or strangers we will never meet or know. We instantly affix attributes, often based just on the attractiveness of the other gender.

In the 19th century, photography allowed painting to pull away from detail to focus on an emotional response to reality. With ‘Bypassing the Rational,’ I am knowingly retreating from the details which draw and entice us, and which allow us to judge. Seeing every pore, every scar and sag is not a route to intimacy; it is a pretense.

Instead, the focus only reaches part of the figure. The rest is a blur in a vibrant, limitless sea of color, a confluence of emotions and feelings; this evokes the traces of memory we have for each other. The limited focus demonstrates our inability to ever fully understand each other. This action becomes so pronounced, genders can be difficult to discern; even the basics can’t be taken for granted.