As a lens-based artist, process and movement is a fundamental part of how Earl Abrahams creates his work. Abrahams’ way of documentation is intuitive and emotive and primarily takes on the form of self-portraiture. The bodily experience of moving and performing to the camera, by employing intentional blurred exposures, opens a new way of experiencing his image.
Within this body of work, titled Unsettled, Abrahams invites us to experience unique forms of abstractions whereby he investigates his ideas surrounding his race, identity and the social mobility he experiences within spaces. Abrahams is driven by the process of making his images and not by the resolution of the image. This intentional disconnect from the final result of the image gives room for play which forms a part of Abrahams’s practice.
Abrahams uses the method of Cyanotype printmaking, bleaching and staining his images to mark his process. The process or mark making in Abrahams’ work have a painterly appearance, taking on the effect of broad brush strokes and blurred experiences. Abrahams’ need for tactility and the use of Cyanotype in his work and process allows for an element of surprise, and it is through all these collaborating aspects that make each work unique.
The blurred abstraction presented in his work speaks to Abrahams’ internal dialogue surrounding his grappling with the race and identity that he has been coloured into. The relationship between process, practice and movement forms an integral part of Abrahams’ work. It is through this symphony of cocreation that Abrahams is determined to discover how the abstract could potentially offer a new way of seeing and experiencing race, identity and social mobility.
Unsettled
2022
Cyanotype on 180gsm Wortson Watercolour Paper
210mm x 297mm