Aurelian explores the interior space of British butterfly houses. These artificial environments are used throughout the work to probe the nature of experience, as an envisioned idea where time is not absolute, but continuously contained and all encompassing. By employing cultural objects and contemporary abstraction, the work holds a dynamic tension — questioning one’s spatial sense - stimulated through colour, form and materiality. Photographs of the accompanying cultural objects disseminate elements from the butterfly houses — by transferral of condensation — to either historic or contemporary vessels. Simultaneously, they explore a metaphysical connection whilst insisting on their separation. Alexander’s photographs, though bold and unusual in colour, make visible a reality which is enduringly elusive and indescribable. They testify to their own reality and postulate another more concealed experience.
The work draws from a variety of personal sources, but most importantly, Alexander’s four month sojourn through the heart of Africa. In a sense, each photograph is autobiographical, helping to decode the fabric of space, essentially how ‘here’ and ‘there’ is in a perpetual dialogue. The work can be seen as an initial investigation into the metaphysical potential of photography.
Press:
British Journal of Photography
The Plantation Journal
Photograd
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