Uprooted
(2020-2021)
We must be rooted in the absence of a place.
To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.
We must take the feeling of being at home into exile. We must be rooted in the absence of a place. To uproot oneself socially and vegetatively. To exile oneself from every earthly country.
Grace fills empty spaces, but it can only enter where there is a void to receive it, and it is grace itself which makes this void. […] Yet first there must be a tearing out, something desperate has to take place, the void must be created. Void: the dark night.
Simone Weil, excerpts from The Need for Roots and Gravity and Grace
Borrowing from philosopher Simone Weil’s thoughts on rootedness and the void, this series uses visual metaphors to capture the feeling of being uprooted and the resilience of life on a cosmic scale. Vulnerable yet tenacious, the roots hover and wander through the universe amid their own scattered fragments, which come to form an integral part of the starscape. In the void, we come to terms with the fragility of our existence and begin searching for existential and spiritual meaning. In this liminal space of uprootedness, hostility coincides with serenity and transience with eternity.
Honorable Mention, International Photography Awards 2021
Shortlisted for Creative Photo Awards 2021