Im Fokus: Cig Harvey

© Cig Harvey

“To me, photography has always played
this role of a reminder, a reminder that
the world has its share of beauty, and that
my camera can bear witness to it: it’s
a microscope for observing the world.
These photographs represent my hopes,
my fears, my loves, my worries…“

You have to make the most of colour. This is what Cig Harvey realised after visiting the ophthalmologist and realising that her eyesight was changing. Then one of her friends made a jarring remark: “Colour isn’t real. It’s just the way our brain interprets light waves”. For someone who has spent her life playing with colour and who has released books entitled Blue Violet and Emerald Drifter, that was not an easy thing to hear.

Yet one look at this artist’s work is enough to prove her friend wrong. In her still lifes and strange, hypnotic compositions, colours are more real than they have ever been before. The artist brilliantly brings out their full primordial identity. Because for our brains, all colours−whether reds, blues or greens− have a taste, a smell and an aura, something indescribable that triggers emotions, reactions and instincts deep inside us. Originally from Devon, England but now living in Maine, USA, Harvey’s work has been featured in prestigious collections and is represented by some of the biggest American galleries.

In her world, the quest for colour leads us down a path that re-enchants the everyday and stimulates our senses. Without limiting herself to simple poetic, abstract images, Cig Harvey adds her own reflections. But where we all too often see explanations lacking in thought and conceptual depth, this photographer’s books provide accessible and often keenly felt philosophical and scientific musings. As such, her work is fully rounded. Some will only see an aesthetic dimension, while others will immerse themselves in the narrative she provides. In her introduction, she repeats a quote from Matisse that sums up why her photography is so special: “With colour, one obtains an energy that seems to stem from witchcraft”.

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