VIVIEN RACAULT
KEREN DOBIA
MICHAEL ROSS
Opening Drinks SUNDAY 11 JULY 4-6pm
Opening Address EMMANUEL SANTOS
Last Day THURSDAY 5 AUGUST
VIVIEN RACAULT
Vivien Racault is a French photography artist, who uses music, writing and multimedia to create global artworks. His practice is deeply rooted in the great tradition of cosmogonies, from the original myths that have built civilizations, to the personal myths of poets like Charles Baudelaire or H.P. Lovecraft.
In Mysteries, Vivien combines photography and digital post-production to draw vanishing points towards the physical and metaphysical Unknown. His work is both a research project into the Metaphysical as well as lyricism of the Fantastic. The work aims to restore original connections to the invisible and the sacred, through the spontaneous expression of dreams.
Chiaroscuro lighting and distortion summon dark forces and climaxes that are reminiscent of Gregory Crewdson and Cindy Sherman.
Work from Vivien’s Outsiders series will also be shown as part of this exhibition.
Vivien was born in Reunion Island, a French territory close to Madagascar and Southern Africa. He has completed a Masters of Multimedia Direction, Paris 8 University, and a Bachelor of Comparative Literature, Paris 4 – Sorbonne University. His work can be found in private collections in Europe, Australia and the Reunion Island Artotheque’s permanent collection. This is Vivien’s second exhibition at Obscura Gallery.
KEREN DOBIA
Keren Dobia works with a number of artistic mediums that provide her with the tools to compose her larger than life ideas.
In her projects, Keren is the photographer and creative director of theatrical compositions. She designs, creates and sources both costumes and sets. Under her careful direction, and with the help of a small army of dedicated makeup artists, hairstylists, models and assistants, her mystical dreamscapes are awoken.
Keren’s recent work explores the emotions and fantasies that permeate the settings of children’s tales and the way these emotions are carried through into our adult lives. A combination of lighting, montage and the imagination, help Keren to reunite us with these forgotten scenes. Like us, these scenes have also grown up. Keren’s work lusts after a childhood past, whilst at the same time, it glorifies the wild possibilities of adulthood.
Keren is a recent graduate of the NMIT Diploma of Photoimaging. She also partook in a Bachelor of Design (Fashion), RMIT. She has previously exhibited her work at Annecto – The people network, Port Melbourne Prints and Framing and numerous NMIT exhibitions. She has been the recipient of various awards and accolades, including Silver Awards & Distinctions in the APPA AIPP Awards (2009 & 2010), NMIT Photoimaging Student of the Year (2009), Canson Masterpiece Student Awards – Photographer of the Year (2009), AIPP Victorian Emerging Photographer of the Year 2010 and more.
MICHAEL ROSS
The inspiration for Michael’s exhibition came to him in a dream. As he walked through the streets of New York, and down the beaches of Asia, places he had visited in waking life, he saw the most fantastic cloud formations and colours. In his dream they were real, yet he was conscious of their implausibility. He finally found a way to express these extraordinary visions of beauty through photography.
‘10,000 Miles of Dreaming’ captures everything Michael wanted it to. With images from Melbourne, Cambodia and New York City (approximately 10,000 miles apart), Michael takes us on a visual exploration of the visions he encountered in his dream.
The ten works express many of Michael’s photographic and artistic concepts; One, surrealism and fantasy; Two, universalism and equality; Three, an exploration of the notion of light, reflection, and our subjective perceptions of the world that surrounds us.
Michael’s interest in photography began at an early age. As he grew older, his passion for photography developed into a unique expression of how he visualizes the world and human emotions, in a surreal and insightful manner. Throughout his photographic development, Michael has been taught and mentored by renowned photographer Emmanuel Santos, whom has influenced his artistic style. Other artists that have inspired Michael’s practice include, Sebastião Salgado, Salvador Dali and Sandiago Calatrava.
In 2009, Michael was a finalist, of 10,000 entrants, in the Asian Geographic, ‘Asia without Borders’ photography competition and his work was also seen in the CCP ‘Documentary Photography Award’. This year his work will be part of the CCP ‘Kodak Salon’.