tectum argenti

A moving meditation on the process of therapeutic healing through reconnecting with the self in nature: shot, home-processed and hand-edited on silver-rich 16mm Fomapan reversal film.

Internal and external landscapes intertwine in an assemblage of fractured but interconnected poetic gestures, multiple exposures, textural images, and abstract marks made onto the surface of the film. Hand-dyed with turmeric, washed in tea, wine and blackberry juice, tumbledried, painted, cut into, scratched and spliced, dust and hair cling to the skin of the celluloid.

"Tectum argenti" is the alchemists' ancient name for bismuth (Bi in the periodic table), meaning literally, 'silver being made'. In this film I wanted to evoke my difficult (but at times euphoric) personal journey of coming out and healing from the past.