Touching In
Cross-culturally we define awe as the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends our current understanding of the world.* This can be large or small. Universal or personal. This vastness can be physical, temporal, creating a revelation, but it can also be challenging, unsettling, as well as destabilizing.
Touching in, is a series of unique hand painted blue prints derived from a photochemical process invented in 1842 by astronomer, scientist and wonder-er, Sir John Herschel. A process conceived by the desire to document, preserve and share. These paper works are my archive of awe. Representations of experiences and emotions, in this moment in time, in history.
The objects within these images can be found inside and outside many homes all over the world: fabric, paper, metal, dirt, and circular forms. They are profane. They are functional. Fundamental. They are also sacred. Physical reminders of the wonders and experiences of awe.
*Dacher Keltner