Thomas Brasch
In this fusion of two series, “Post Tenebras Lux”, I explore a common theme: the transformative power of light displacing the darkness. Light embodies wisdom, healing, and growth in humanity’s passage from the dark to light ages.
In the series “Out of the Darkness”, I transform lens-based source images from my travels into luminous and iridescent commemorative mandalas. The images juxtapose beauty and violence, light and darkness. These images are my response to the madness and chaos in the world. They also pay tribute to the victims of senseless hate and violence. Each piece is titled by the city, location, and the date of the event. It is up to the viewer to discover the connections.
My second series “Enlightenment” provides viewers with a hopeful message in these dark and complicated times. Instead of greed, corruption, famine, and war, they are reminded of humanity’s other offerings: charity, equality, social consciousness, wisdom, and civility. Each image acts as a beacon back to our humanity and a reminder that, with insight, empathy, and integrity, one can bring order to chaos – a light unto darkness. Images from “Out of the Darkness” are characterized by a single orb with soft edges. The images in “Enlightenment” explore additional geometric shapes. Edges are crisp and photographic details from the source image are clearly visible. (The uploaded images have either OOTD or Enlightenment as a suffix.)
I document and interpret reality through my lens-based abstract art of digital manipulations. My approach is multi-layered. On the surface, I produce aesthetic images. I turn the commonplace into the sublime and the real into the surreal. Below the surface, I construct a narrative of the transformative power of photography, turning sight into perception and perception into reasoning. On a personal scale, the work is therapeutic for me. I can bring order to the chaos I see in the world and pay tribute to humanity's progression to enlightened sentience.
I have just completed my solo show for the 2021 CONTACT Photography Festival in Toronto. My works have been in several international group shows (Budapest, Rome, Barcelona, New York City, Minneapolis, Palm Springs.) A full CV is available on my website.
A virtual gallery of my CONTACT show is available at this link.
https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=SKt5P2qVf8W
For reference, six images are 40x40” and one is 60x60” . All are archival inkjet prints.
