© Sterck and Rozo _ Portraits, Snowflakes and Chandeliers 19, 2002

Portraits, Snowflakes and Chandeliers 19, 48 x 48″ Lambda print

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Portraits, Snowflakes and Chandeliers was created by mirroring or double-mirroring a sharp, vibrant image of trees, water or some other organic form. By mirroring a fragment of nature, we made visible the entities, the portals and the energies hidden under the chaos of random life. We organized the chaos and revealed what we feel but can never see. The work portrays fairies, hobbits and goblins, animals and mythological figures, and exposes the doorways to the world they inhabit.

The perfect symmetry and the wealth of detail give the work a Zen-like character that draws you in and puts you in a meditative state much like a Mandela. According to the viewing distance, different faces and symbols are exposed or concealed. The light coming from all directions at once and the different perspective give the work a three-dimensional quality. The result is disengaging because it questions the viewer’s intuitive knowledge of time and space.

Looking at photos of Indians by William S.Curtis and at National Geographic photos of warriors from the island of Nias, we noticed the similarities in imagery used in the masks and totems made by indigenous peoples, and the masks and faces that appear in our work. It seemed like they could see the very same things that we capture. They looked at trees, rocks, sand – all the things that have not changed – and completed the image, closed the circle and mirrored the faces to make visible the spirits they believed in. The story that says that Native Americans designed their totem poles and masks by laying down on their side next to a pond and gazing at the reflection of the trees in the still water, might explain the resemblance.

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© Sterck and Rozo _ Portraits, Snowflakes and Chandeliers 23

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Portraits, Snowflakes and Chandeliers 23, 48 x 48″ Lambda print

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