Rhona Shand

EMERGENT EVOLUTION « Theory holding that completely new types of organisms, modes of behavior and consciousness appear at certain stages of the evolutionary process usually as a result of an unpredictable rearrangement of the pre-existing elements.

How we view ourselves is often defined by the standards set by our family and friends and by our environment. The loss or alteration of any of these things often forces a change in the status or position from where one gains ones identity.

My work has evolved into the exploration of the liminal states that everyone goes through as they find, lose, and continually rebuild their ideas of self. In some pieces, such as "The Nascent Being", I reconceptualize the human figure, showing the body, not as a complete vessel, but as something that is susceptible to unforeseen forces or pressures which can often change us mentally, physically or emotionally.

I would like to think that some of the images ultimately speak about optimism - that at the end of such an unstable time, one can emerge as a much stronger individual.

The resources and knowledge I call upon to make my photographs comes primarily from my illustration and fine art background. By using the digital medium, I am able to show the collaboration of illustration and my love of photography. This process extends a freedom to push my ideas into a hybrid of impressionistic textures and photographic reality.

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