By Jon Laurenson : September 2022
Jack's manifesto: -
“The more time spent removed from the mediocrity of society, the less we
depend upon it.”
His latest work "ALLUVION - A PHOTOGRAPHIC SERIES OF TIDAL FLUX OBSERVATIONS FROM WATEGOS BEACH" reflects the dark matter moods of Wategoes Bay in Byron Bay.
Jack captures the light in the darkness so beautifully....
Hi Jack
Congratulations on this new show “ALLUVION – Dark Matter”
This is incredible work once again mate.
Your photos capture the underlying moody character of what is usually considered the peaceful bay of Wategoes.
What does Alluvion mean to you when combined with dark matter?
Definition of alluvion
1 : the wash or flow of water against a shore. 2 : flood, inundation. 3 : alluvium. 4 : an accession to land by the gradual addition of matter (as by deposit of alluvium) that then belongs to the owner of the land to which it is added also : the land so added.
The definition sums it up as this series is a conversation upon the complete clusterfuck that was and is the last three years, more specifically 22. The resulting imagery spawned from a need to process, make amends with and finally eject the head noise, residual matter that has been deposited on both my individual and the collective conscious.
Can you describe for us what is a tidal flux observation?
Sitting on a hill and studying the slow dance of the tide.
Has there been a specific time of day or do you wait for a specific type of light to capture these moods?
The unusual angle of Wategos and correlation of the sun allows the reflections to run the length of the beach, creating a massively diverse amount of moments to occur and unfold within the small window of sunrise.
The imagery has been shot from first light, the dawn sun squeezing through the salt haze creates a softer more varied pallet with the reflections of the pastel skies bouncing off the water creating chrome, coloured candy. The process is melodic. Shutter speeds are slower, more considered, movement, focus and thought is gentle, soft, self-sympathetic. Edges blend into each other kindly and depth is embraced.
Forgiveness, empathy, egress.
As sun slowly lifts and throws a harsher more dogmatic light down towards earth, splintered fragments of hard light bounce directly off the shore into the lens dictating everything speeds up dramatically. Shutter speed maxes out, moments are fleeting, soft lines become hard edges, frantically hunting balance in divided light, focusing, refocusing, stumbling down the hill. Frantic becomes frenzied, white noise drowns out, insecurities obsolete, anxieties alleviated, hone into a meditative state desperately seeking composition in a symphonic sea of movement and madness.
Duality, division, dopamine.
Do you live in Byron Bay and what inspires you about this area?
I do, not much at the moment to be honest… plastic fantastic. I’m spent for a minute.
How do you see darkness in light and light in darkness?
You gotta get up to get down.
Please also explain the format in which the art is presented for this show?
Large format works on paper, meditative portals to the natural world.
Can you elaborate on these words you have used to describe parts of your show on social media?
SYNTHESIS.
An image that embraces organic flow, curves, space acceptance, a combination of elements that form a connected whole
SEVERANCE
Division, hard lines, a literal line in the sand. The end
CONTINUANCE
Stay the course, navigate the corners, infinite evolution.
FRACTURED
Broken, splintered, cut
DUALITY
Internal dialog, the good, the bad, the ugly.
And finally, what does Wategoes Bay mean to you?
A Handsome town full of Handsome people
The Androgynous
The Bohemian
The CLONED and confused
THE PLURALITY OF PIED and PIPERS
GENERIC GENETICS
INDIVIDUALLY SCULPTURED
Thanks Jack.
Jack’s ALLUVION Dark Matter show opens Thursday at 5pm Sept 15 until October the 9th. View at 14-16 Bayshore Drive Byron Arts & Industrial Estate (entry at the back via banksia drive). Byron Bay. NSW 248
ABOUT the ARTIST Jack Bailey
Jack Bailey is a Byron Bay based, contemporary landscape artist with a sophisticated eye for abstraction, shape and tone, challenging traditional landscape photography through detailed exploration of formal elements within local & international environments.
Through fastidious macro study of landscape, Jack strives to capture unique subconscious, fractal moments driven by recursion. All partial elements of the overarching panorama. Vaguely familiar dream-like occurrences buried in the psyche and recounted through unique, large format artworks that serve as meditative portals to the natural world.
I have always felt an uncommon affinity with places dark, ancient and unbroken.
I find solace in empty landscapes, void of human interference:
Raw.
Rugged.
Elemental.
I find the company of the wild far more affable than that of modern man.
My manifesto,
“The more time spent removed from the mediocrity of society, the less we
depend upon it.”
WWW.JACKBAILEY.COM.AU
@JACK.M.BAILEY
Private showings and sales contact Jack on +61431674726
@jack.m.bailey
studio@jackbailey.com