Patterns and Signs from the Invisible World

This photograph is one of a series, which depicts interior spaces found in a state of apparent dilapidation, the photograph betraying signs of disuse and neglect.

The construction of this image also utilises a compositional device recurring in this series, that directs the viewer’s gaze to the corner of the room depicted in the photograph.

Like other works in this series, the space’s previous function and occupants remain unknown. The viewer is presented with only traces of the room’s former use to decipher. The surface of the walls and floor carry that information within the fabric of the room’s construction and previous use, as a collection of marks, stains and blemishes scar its surface texture.

Central to this image, is a large-scale wooden panel, roughly painted and punctured with cut out sections, their shape and placement forming a uniform but unintentional pattern.

The title of this work also plays an active role in the possible reading of this image, its reference to ‘patterns and signs’ purposefully offering the potential for an architectural, semiotic gesture.

The treatment of the space, reframed within this photographic work, moves beyond its original function, to reveal new layers of meaning, now conveyed within the space’s visual language, the signifiers embedded within it.