resist authoritarianism

shadows represents both a series of charcoal drawings and the beginnings of a more ambitious writing project. I began the series on impulse in response to learning of "tempusur," a term introduced by Amanda Montell (The Age of Magical Overthinking, 2024) in response to John Koenig's naming of unnamed emotions in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows (2021). Tempusur, derived from the Latin words tempus and susurrus to mean "time whisper," rests under the nostalgia umbrella, referring to the pang we experience upon noticing that a moment is slipping away in real time. Tempusur occurs as we acknowledge that our experience is temporary – an "elusive" nostalgia for the present, or however we perceive the present to exist in a wider context.

The relationship between light and time is self-evident. Light, like time, is fleeting. But as I began to reflect on the significance of shadows, I realized (or remembered) that shadows and reflections have been partners in metaphor for millennia. Both ask us to examine ourselves, as taught by countless artists and writers, Jungian psychologists (if you prefer science), and scrying practitioners (if you prefer ancient divination/contemporary occultism). In considering the nostalgia piece, per a relationship between shadows and the past, I found myself inundated with complex questions navigating the tensions between memory and history, fear and awe, narcissism and empathy – all of which reveal rabbit holes addressing spirituality, identity, belonging, legacy, and what it means to be human at all. Easy stuff...

In pursuing a statement for this show, I launched a series of musings – short thought pieces and ekphrastic writings – to share some of the thinking behind my ongoing shadows work. This series functions largely as memoir, offering a glimpse into my own search for meaning in this dark, dark world. It is also simply about the way light touches everyday moments; I'm enthralled, enraptured even, by the playful nature of light as it casts shadows and reflections that may or may not exist in the same way again. Every piece in this series captures a snippet of once-was tempusur, sometimes distorted or idealized in memory.