‘Shard of Light’ an archival pigment photo on fiber paper, ed. of 5, 2AP, 48″x60″/30″x36″, 2011
Trace Heavens’ is photographic series by Canadian artist James Nizam, large scale photographs capture sculptures created by a momentary and highly controlled beam of daylight, resulting from Mr. Nizam’s work cutting or perforating shapes into the exterior wall of darkened spaces. The resulting series ‘Trace Heavens’, was created 2011-2013, and is comprised of eight archival pigment photographs, each limited in edition.
Precisely placed mirrors within the installations reflect one beam of sunlight from one point to the next, creating luminous three dimensional shapes delineated by the moving light. For a period of about five minutes, defined by the movement of the sun, Mr. Nizam photographs these ephemeral ‘structures’ over multiple exposures. The introduction of a floating dust particulate, where each particle of this synthetic fog in the path of light is illuminated, lends greater density to the form and its presence in the photograph. These forms are referred to by Mr. Nizam as ‘Thought Forms’.
‘Thought Form (Cube)’ an archival pigment photo on fiber paper, ed. of 5, 2AP, 30″x36″/40″x50″, 2011
innate tension borne of many pluralities emerge in the work; movement is checked by stillness, darkness is moved by light, space strikes the opaque, and in these ‘Thought Forms’ the balance of symmetry is intentionally and dynamically offset, illusion and perception are surprised, as our understanding of the work develops, by the gravity of physical law. What was perhaps understood be a hanging light bulb, on examination, is not. What appears to be dangerously fragile is not. What appears to be a tribute to technological advance is far removed from that frontier; it is instead a return to an ancient practice of careful observation, underpinned by the certainty of ritual.
‘Cube (Deconstruction)’ an archival pigment photo on fiber paper, ed. of 5, 2AP, 12 1/2″x 15”, 2011
Nizam’s inventive work incorporates his great interest in solar architecture, an ancient and obscure architectural practice. Examples include the passage mounds in the Boyne Valley of Ireland and the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs in Rome, architectural structures which consider solar alignment in their design, using sunlight as a tool of temporal measurement and spectral effect. Mr. Nizam spent months in his studio and on site planning construction and executing his sunlit tracings, considering the movement of the sun and how best to capture them.
The ‘Trace Heavens’ series challenges photographic technique and acuity in performance, requiring repeated exposures to one large format negative at the same time of day, over the course of days. In this way, the momentary nature of performance is the granted power to endure by emphatic use of the photographic medium. The ‘Trace Heavens’ series is a meeting of several ideological and aesthetic movements, including the visual patterning of Reductionism and Geometric Abstraction, the contrast and simplicity of Minimalism, and the spectral experiential qualities of the Light and Space Movement, though innovation moves Mr. Nizam through these artistic touchstones.
‘Trace Heavens’ was exhibited Vancouver in 2012, at Birch Libralato Toronto and the Yukon Art Center in 2013. James Nizam, born 1977 in Bedfordshire, England holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia, 2002. Mr. Nizam has shown work internationally, and in 2013 was commissioned to create an installation for the Luis Vuitton Boutique, Toronto. James Nizam resides in both Berlin and Vancouver and is represented by Christophe Guye Zurich, and Birch Libralato Toronto.
More about James Nizam at jamesnizam.com. All photographs are the property of Birch Libralato.
Via – with thanks.
Britt Germann 