Pushing boundaries between painting and photography, Charles Emerson emerges cut flowers in a water filled tank and inserts drops of inks, dyes and paints onto the flowers. The ink runs through the petals of the flowers and eventually sinking to the bottom of the tank. The photographs are then flipped upside down to create a more dramatic effect, making it look as if the flowers are water colour paintings, giving off a colourful smoky aroma. Whereas, if you flip the images upside down, you can see the technique he used to insert the flowers facing the bottom of the tank and apply the ink on top of them.
He states that the definition for this photo shoot was "Initially influenced by the use of symbolism in Dutch Vanitas, Charles creates his own symbolic imagery with which he explores fragility in life, death and the hereafter." This is exactly what I am representing in my work, using flowers as a symbolism of life and how fragile it is, how easy it can be manipulated and interpreted differently. Overpowered with colours that give the object a new identity, much like mental illnesses that can take over a person's mind and manipulate their purity.
