Genesis
My Genesis project explores the intersection of genetic technology and what we perceive as the natural beauty of the world. By examining this relationship, I aim to question how human interference reshapes our understanding of nature. Initially, the objects—horse chestnuts (Aesculus hippocastanum) and datura fruits—seem familiar, but upon closer inspection, they reveal an unfamiliar strangeness that challenges our perceptions of beauty.
In Genesis, I focus on the ability of gene technology to modify what we often consider the origin of beauty. After spending time with these modified objects, their foreign and strange aspects become apparent, revealing a hidden depth. The project seeks to portray how fear and beauty can coexist, forming a unity that blurs the lines between the natural and the unnatural.
In this sequence, I aim to install a sense of fright within beauty—not as its opposite, but as an integral element that merges with beauty into a unified expression. Inspired by nature’s transformations, the work adopts a poetic approach to explore the deeper layers of human existence. By isolating and repeating a single object, I emphasize its intricate details and complexity when presented in an enlarged format.
The cycle of life—birth, growth, aging, and death—is a recurring theme throughout my work, and it connects directly to the title Genesis. My focus is on turning and examining the questions surrounding the potential of genetic engineering to alter nature’s essence. This project reflects a blend of realistic observation and imaginative interpretation, capturing elements of decay within compositions that relate to the impermanence of life.