Henrik Kam, San Francisco
Artist Statement:
The MANDALAS FOR PLANET EARTH from the series Anthropogenic Geography 2015-2019
My intention with this body of work is to manifest healing energy to our ailing planet by imparting beauty and restoring harmony to areas severely impacted by human activity; the square yet circular Mandala composition with its crystalline structure and geometric balance established a sacred space to aid meditation and focus our energies.
As expressed by Jungian analyst Marie-Louise von Franz, “The Mandala serves a conservative purpose- namely, to restore a previously existing order. But it also serves the creative purpose of giving expression and form to something that does not yet exist, something new and unique. The process is that of the ascending spiral, which grows upward while simultaneously returning again and again to the same point”.
The MFPE “corner-stone” image is a satellite photograph downloaded from the web, processed in Photoshop and the mirrored three times to create the perfect square. Currently the MFPE number in the 100’s and although numbered sequentially are not meant to be viewed in any particular order. Each piece is also identified by its location and the activity taking place.
The MFPE “corner-stone” image is a satellite photograph downloaded from the web, processed in Photoshop and the mirrored three times to create the perfect square. Currently the MFPE number in the 100’s and although numbered sequentially are not meant to be viewed in any particular order. Each piece is also identified by its location and the activity taking place.
Initially my investigations of the Earth’s surface revolved around the major “hot” spots of military industrial nuclear weapons storage and disassembly but I quickly broadened my interest to include other areas altered in significant ways by our unchecked extraction of minerals and ore; our ever expanding habitats and mega infrastructure projects; and our destructive wars and unchecked materialism indelibly marring our environment.
My scouring searches across the surface of the globe are most often launched by news articles and historical accounts as well as terrestrial images, which sets me on a search for its top-down appearance to better understand its graphic/esthetic potential and emotional impact.
Since starting on this work in late 2015, making the Mandalas have become an important meditation practice in my art making.
A reaction/review written in response to exhibition at Tide Converge Gallery, SF Spring 2018
Henrik Kam
Mandalas for Planet Earth
Mandalas for Planet Earth
Henrik Kam has presented Webster with a new definition for the word mandala. Mandalas speak to transformation; but they also “serve the creative purpose of giving expression and form to something that does not yet exist, something new and unique.” (Marie-Louise von Franz, Jungian analyst) This is exactly what the photographer Henrik Kam has accomplished with his exhibition, Mandalas for Planet Earth, currently showing at Tide Converge Gallery, SF. The computer birthed the digital age, but it was digital image making that gave root to the fodder of technology ever present in our lives today. Freed from static film, photographers are the frontiersmen harvesting this bounty of digital imagery, using it to shape novel visions anchored in our digital age, redefining our world, our society.
That’s a mouthful. Not to worry, Henrik’s images give you an eyeful…and then some. The richness of his forms and colors generate mandalas bursting with associations—organic life forms, jewels, mosaics, maps, non-terrestrial life. It all starts from satellite photographs downloaded from the web; and with this, distance becomes not so much a defining concept as a revealer of layered worlds. Initial image capture takes place in orbits thousands of miles above us, as documentation of geography. Standing in the gallery a couple of yards away from them, Henrik’s mandalas are two dimensional constructions exploring pattern, form and color. Moving within a few feet, stepping up close, suddenly you’re down the rabbit hole. A three-dimensional world bursts forth resonating with references bounded only by the viewer.
Here too labels announce themselves and the viewer is confronted with a divide in the road. Both paths have their qualities though one is a cul-de-sac and the other a boulevard. The labels take us back to place, specific places and specific times of year. They propel the first steps from the familiar to the novel. They provide specificity—the what, when and where of satellite photographs and give rise to all their accordant ponderings and social commentary. A meal in itself.
However, I believe the artistry, the creative depth, the wonder of Henrik’s images is not in what they are made from, but what they are and how they open before the viewer. Here is the mandala “giving expression and form to something that does not yet exist”, the generative power of a mandala. Untethered from fact, looking simply at what is before us we are presented a technological harvest of unknown materials, species, flora or worlds. It’s amazing how the surface of the earth can replicate other surfaces—from gems to plant leaves, how minerals, uranium mine tailings, can transform into organic life forms. Certain images possess an energy that seems to burst the mandala, birthing new organic life forms in their own unique environments. At such a point, the images appear totally divorced from satellite photographs. Desecrated areas of planet earth breathe anew with novel life. Such photography has no previous reference, and here lies the importance of Henrik’s work.
A couple of aspects not to be missed: Mandalas whose centers engage us as if looking into the eye of eternal space. Also, the presentation of nine images derived from Sacramento wetlands, Yolo Grid. These are the only images not framed and to good effect. We are accustomed to seeing grids of framed photographs, nine, twelve, whatever. But grids are static. Here Henrik prints his images in vertical strips of three placed side by side with another vertical strip of three and another. There’s a movement inherent in this presentation. The static grid gives way to the film strip accenting the seasonal changes taking place throughout the images.
So, need some fresh air? Curious about how digital data transforms our world? Wanting to feast your eyes, take an adventure? Then make the time to experience Henrik Kam’s Mandalas for Planet Earth at Tides Converge Gallery. No way you’ll want that time back.
© Martin Lesinski 2018