Capturing Friction

The series is based on a fusion of two separate ideas: a visual study of the biology and behaviors of birds, and a visual study of the geometry and mechanism of industrial machines and tools. To that end, I first started collecting images and drawings from scientific books. I soon realized that making drawings and collages of these two subject matters, despite their contradictory nature, make for an impressive range of images. Thus, “machines” and “birds,” or in other words, “mechanisms” and “organisms,” turned into the main theme of my work ever since. The series praises the contradictions and similarities between the natural and Euclidean geometries: it is, indeed, a dialogue between the modern and the primitive. Key concepts, such as mechanical/organic, absurd/systematic, nest/nutrition, wild/modern, and rhythm/death, play a significant role in the works of this series. In making the works, by way of trial and error, I have utilized a series of different techniques, such as metal photogravure, acid etching and engraving on steel, screen printing, stencil, and assemblage on the works.