Artists Statement
deepening /dēp-niŋ/ intransitive verb
to become deeper or more profound
I made these images in 2025 over the course of about 24 weeks. I used my iPhone, a restored Polaroid SX-70, my son’s 35mm Canonet19, and my paternal grandfather’s 35mm Canon AV-1. Most of my film is lab-processed, though I developed some rolls in a homemade brew and spent an entire evening with my son scanning the negatives, dust and all.
I think of Catherine’s 24-week course, The Deepening, as a magically powerful group mentoring project with individual responses. Each week, I used my cameras to pay attention to people, places, feelings, questions, and dreams. (And to the light, always.) Sometimes I panicked, uncomfortable because I didn’t have a plan or a theme. At Catherine’s urging, I let go and scanned my days for opportunities to add to my work. I put my trust in the process.
For this collection, I gathered photos that resonated and sat with them until ideas for names formed. Here’s where the theme started to show up, in verbs. Some can describe one’s inner life, others capture change, longing, or movement. When arranged in groups by name, the self-portraits that begin and end the work sit on opposite ends of the spectrum from daydream to reality. In between them are moments from a life both real and imagined. For me, this body of work is the result of a deepening in trusting myself.
It’s proof.
