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From Wall to Wall

4m 58s

2021

Paul Shiakallis

Audio Visual Photography

NA

From Wall to WallPaul Shiakallis
00:00 / 01:04
From Wall to Wall

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Artist Statement

Apprehension

This project explores the affects of isolation and a mind left to wonder. Covid-19 restricted us to our homes, leaving us dissociated from the familiarity of our normal lives. With little information on the virus, our emotions and state of mind begin to drift.
While at home during lockdown, I noticed the nuances of natural light falling against my studio walls. The shadows, reflections and colours created visual cues resembling the sky and ground, akin to a distant landscape.
For the first time in my life I contemplated how I might die.
Using a digital camera locked onto a tripod, I photographed the passing light at various hours of the day. I recorded the shifting of the light through the window from sunrise to sunset. The sky bred an arid desert, dissolving the ground into a dead sea, while the sun obscured into the maze of the forest.
The artwork illustrates one image flowing into the next to symbolise the passing, loss and incoherence of time. While in isolation, I became more aware of sounds, flowing from the familiar to the peculiar and the unwanted.
The power of the unknown can be debilitating. A mouldy sky, a smear of trees, the suffocating heat, but, is that a light in the distance?

Artist Bio

Paul Shiakallis

1982 . South Africa

Paul Shiakallis was born in Johannesburg in 1982 to parents of Cypriot descent.
He completed a National Diploma in Photography at the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, South Africa.
Shiakallis has shot commercially for numerous ad agencies in South Africa. In addition to commercial and editorial work, Shiakallis has been commissioned to shoot photo essays for politically-based international publications.
His personal work has been published worldwide, most notably by i-D Mag USA; The Guardian UK; New York Mag USA, Esquire Russia, De Volksrant Holland & The Mail and Guardian SA. He has exhibited work in Greece, India, Australia and the USA.
Based at his studio in Johannesburg, South Africa, Shiakallis currently works on commercial and conceptual projects.

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