Occupying Emptiness explores memory and partial presence through photography and painting within my grandparents’ abandoned home. I returned repeatedly to the same room, documenting the space without interference. Over time, the room became familiar and internalised. Fragments of the body appear throughout the work but are never fully revealed. A hand. A reflection. A trace of skin. These partial glimpses echo the instability of memory and the feeling of presence lingering within a space after someone has left. The mirror became an important element within the work because it reflects only temporarily. An image appears, then disappears, gently reminding us that both memory and presence are always temporary. Painting allowed me to move beyond documentation and slow the image down. Through muted tones and softened forms, the body begins to dissolve into the surrounding space until figure and environment can no longer be clearly separated. In an increasingly fast-paced world, our attention is often consumed and the quiet traces of the past can go unnoticed. We are conditioned to keep moving, rarely pausing to reflect on the places, people and memories that quietly continue to shape us. Occupying Emptiness offers a moment of stillness. The work invites a slower way of looking asking the viewer to sit with absence traces and what remains over time.
