LUCAS GANDY
IMMATERIALITY & THE GRID
Birds of flight and feathers are deeply woven into stories of faith, morality and freedom as well as many culturally specific metaphors. Feathers exist as perhaps the most commonly mentioned and depicted animal appendage when humans seek to describe our own condition. This ubiquitous attraction to the usage of avian features in culture and ideology creates potential for many interpretations of a feathers meaning, as well as ambiguity. The history of feathers pertaining to religion and symbology prompted me to approach assembling the scanned images in a way that represents my own elusive take on god’s presence (or lack thereof) within a cosmic landscape.
Visually, I wanted to capture a vast, obvious movement in my project, which contradicted the qualities of my small and nebulous material. While a feather’s veins create a solid, linear pattern that moves with purpose, the wispy, hairlike after feathers posses no set directionality or form. I was however drawn to the high transparency of after feathers, their see-through quality allowed for digital layering without sacrificing authenticity of the object. One surprising outcome of scanning was the painted, surreal appearance of certain images — they occur as altered, yet authentic captures of nature.
Utilizing a series of squares (grid) initially felt like a limitation, and I struggled to eliminate their straight lines and shape them into a more naturalistic environment— that of birds and feathers. Eventually I found myself bringing back specific digital edges, however. These areas don’t attempt to hide the digital nature of my piece, and in fact accentuate it in some cases. I feel this relationship between biological nature and geometric virtuality is an interesting aspect of my image.
Scale was a prominent factor in my decision making throughout. I sought to create a landscape inspired by immense, often overwhelming galactic satellite images. The idea of inch-long after feathers representing a 5 million lightyear wide space intrigued me to explore how size is perceived within various contexts.
Art and Influences 