‘Through the Looking Glass’

Liam Farris & Cheri Jackson.

Date: Nov 1 – Nov 30Space: Workshop

‘Through the Looking Glass’ is a collaboration between Liam Farris and Cheri Jackson.  The intention is to produce a series of abstract photographs of everyday objects, both man-made and in nature.  This is an exercise in exploring colour, patterns, textures and imagination.  Photos are taken from unusual   angles or very close up, and are sometimes digitally manipulated.  It follows the theme of illusion and seeing the world differently.  The abstracts will hopefully prompt viewers to imagine what they might be seeing.

Liam has previously held an exhibition of abstract and impressionist photos taken through the patterned/frosted windows at his home and at other places that he’s found them in his travels.  While better known around Hawke’s Bay as a musician, he has been interested in visual art since childhood and up until his mid-teens used to draw and paint extensively.  He first tried photography in Intermediate school Art class, but has only had his own proper camera since 2017.  Liam is drawn to eye-catching textures like those on patterned glass, and those found in objects that are corroding, peeling, cracking and decaying.

Cheri has had an interest in amateur photography (film) starting at age eight with a Polaroid camera, and has for many years taken pictures of landscapes and flowers.  She obtained her first digital camera in 2019 and has since been experimenting with abstract and negative images and digital effects.  Due to her studies in psychology, she has also become very interested in optical illusions and pictures that have a surreal or hallucinatory quality.  Cheri is in the process of finishing her degree in Visual Arts, and this her first exhibition in digital media.

Exhibiting at CAN 1 – 30 November 2023