Photography: Constellations

Artist Statement

A constellation is a perceived pattern with the outcome depending on the configuration of influences at the time.   This arrangement of parts or elements can be seen differently from different locations or audiences.  They change location and shape and may even disappear over time.  Constellations can be seen within ourselves and on others through the connection of marks, whether they are scars, freckles, moles, birthmarks.  These specks can be seen either as ugly blemishes or as unique units that compose the identity of a person.  

In this body of work, “Constellations,” I connected moles, beauty marks, scars, and birthmarks to create new shapes.  This fascination with connecting moles began when I discovered a constellation on my right wrist that was a mirror image of a known constellation in the night sky - The Little Dipper.  The project evolved so that it never mimicked recognizable constellations from space, but found a unique set of constellations on him.  

My original plan was to draw constellations on many friends and families and hear their explanations of what each mark meant to them - a scar from a childhood memory, a birthmark, or maybe even a freckle they never knew existed.  I knew my boyfriend would be one of the models, but the more I thought about it, he was the only person I wanted to investigate completely.  I wanted to see every inch of his body, knowing about every scar, birthmark, or mole.  My intention was not to focus on my physical attraction to his body, but to look beyond the superficial desires between a man and a woman.  The result is very intimate and thorough-a full investigation of my love for him.

I was inspired by the tenderness and sensuality of Sally Man’s Immediate Family; the documentary approach of John Coplans’ Body Parts; the way in which Alfred Steiglitz directed his model and lover, Georgia O’Keeffe, to capture the allure of her hands; the attention that Emmet Gowin commands through ethereal compositions and lighting situations that force the viewer to question what is happening, but ultimately focus on the figure shown; and how Callahan’s images “add up to a kind of visual diary-of his own visual experience.”