Dark Matter of Fact: Artist Statement

My work draws upon the imagery of science, but it is not limited to technologies of the present. It imagines that the depths of the ocean reach into outer space, that through an organic prism, vision can fluctuate between the micro- and macroscopic. I have been developing a personal cosmology in which commonalities among species, forms, and environment become visible and expressive, suggesting past narratives and possible futures. The forms and environs in my work sometimes migrate into new pieces, establishing new systems. These systems imagine modes of transportation, communication, and regeneration. There are no waste materials in these worlds: vision is a renewable resource.

My recent work has been "photo-based", in that it combines drawing and photographic processes. "Negatives" are drawn on layers of Mylar, which are projected onto light-sensitive paper. The paper is developed in a color processor, creating a camera-less, photographic image. In addition to watercolor and ink, I use materials such as saltwater, seaweed, coral, minerals, and crystals to manipulate the "negative" and the print. The total process is similar to that of making a photogram.

- Christine Nguyen, 2009