黑料不打烊

Stephen Waddell鈥檚 new exhibition includes a collection of photographs that portray different forms of light, both aesthetic and psychological. The individual works demonstrate the extremes of how visible light can build our view, and that which is captured by the camera.

On one level, the works demonstrate the physical conditions of light, and the aesthetic recognition of this light through the camera. Waddell鈥檚 large-scale colour photograph Sunflowers depicts the distinct light just before sunset, the time when sunlight turns from neutral to recognizably yellow/orange. The quality of this specific light sculpts the scene, accentuating high relief and emphasizing depth as a woman waters her garden. In contrast, David is a silver gelatin photograph printed to create a light that is almost anti-sculptural; the low contrast of the image creates a flattening effect, collapsing foreground and background and causing the materiality of the subject (a sculpture) to compete with the materiality of the photographic print (literally, two dimensional).

Exploring the psychological aspects of light, Kammerspiele shows the illuminated interior of a cave, emanating light from an unknown source within. The dark exterior of the cavern delineates aesthetic parameters around the light, creating an enclosed circle like a mouth, skull, or subterranean netherworld. The motif of an oval or circle echoes Copernican-era depictions of earth and the Garden of Eden, where an enclosed area is shown with an entrance and an exit. Paintings by Lucas Cranach and Hieronymus Bosch depict this contracted space, a reflection of the time and limited knowledge of the world.

The large colour photograph Hive Burner directly references Cranach鈥檚 The Golden Age, where a circular concrete ruin sits among grass and greenery, and figures sit, stand, and walk as though composed in the scene. In this photo, the dilapidated structure (leftover from a now non-existent wood mill) sits near the shore where a large tanker, ubiquitous with Vancouver鈥檚 waterways, can be seen in the background. Waddell鈥檚 version of a 鈥淕olden Age鈥� sits in contrast to Cranach鈥檚 depictions of utopia and paradise, and offers a misanthropic albeit similarly pastoral view of our present-day.