Chava Eichner

Throughout this project I have explored to what extent we engage with photographic practice as a form of therapy: Is it simply distraction, or does it allow us to connect with our subconscious thoughts and feelings? Can it be cathartic and even healing?

Although I search for a sense of order and calm in my everyday life, my creative practice is much more unorthodox and free-spirited. Firm plans and clearly defined project outlines have little space in the process, as I open the doors to methodology, that is characterised by chance and creative unpredictability.
I relish experimental techniques and have playfully blended digital and analogue darkroom approaches in these images, while always maintaining a thematic connection through the symbolism of light, layers, water and colour. Instead of fighting the fact that some areas of our lives are beyond our control, I want to fully embrace and celebrate it with these vibrant images.
The abstract beauty of the final outcomes offers a joyful and therapeutic freedom to interpret for both the maker and viewer. Framed by Agnes Martin’s view that we respond to beauty with emotion, this also allowed me to further explore our need for aesthetics throughout the project.