At the Threshold of Stillness with Lindsay Blamey

OTOMYS: You’ve spoken about the formative role of rural Australia in your visual language. In what ways does that landscape continue to inform your practice, emotionally or conceptually?

 

LINDSAY BLAMEY: I believe growing up in rural Australia shaped the way I look at space and time. The openness and the quiet stillness is instilled in me and forms the core of my work. It taught me to value the stillness and subtlety. While I’m connecting to those memories and feelings of that time emotionally, I’m also portraying the feeling of those memories now. It is from this perspective where the suspended moment, the before and after is also enhanced.

OTOMYS: There is a palpable ease and tension in your images; an atmosphere of stillness that feels on the cusp of transformation. What draws you to capturing that threshold?

 

LINDSAY BLAMEY: I feel my works are energised by finding the threshold, that balance and tension. They rest in a moment and they are continuously breathing an endless narrative of the unknown and of anticipation. The narrative is always open, it invites the viewer to have their own conversation with the work. I love the power of the still image. The tension can be heightened by finding the subtle balance of a moment. The information that isn’t revealed in the image can have as much impact as what is. 

OTOMYS: When you head out to photograph, do you have an image or narrative in mind or do you respond intuitively to what you find?

 

LINDSAY BLAMEY: Sometimes images come to me spontaneously but mostly I have an idea of the elements I’m looking for, or a place or moment I want to capture. In many cases the subjects dictate the direction of the work… often the hero’s of my work develop from the periphery. I’m always open to the unexpected and it’s a reason why creating my own source imagery is an important part of the process. The works are often informed by elements that reveal themselves during the process rather than a preconceived idea. 

OTOMYS: What ideas or directions are you exploring in your studio and how have these shaped this new limited release of your work for Otomys?

 

LINDSAY BLAMEY: My work continues to explore stillness, transformation and the liminal space. These latest works display a subtle shift in time and place, pushing toward a deeper sense of atmosphere.  They hold a quiet tension and silence that’s meant to be lived with. I wanted the works to unfold slowly, revealing themselves over time.