De Santos Gallery Presents: Intimate Archaeology Photographs by Elaine Duigenan

Elaine Duigenan (pron. ‘Dygnun’) works with objects; sometimes they are familiar items which have been discarded, other times they are the things which have been kept and valued. She places them in an environment in such a way as to effect transformation or bestow status. She is fascinated by what she has begun to term ‘intimate archaeology’. This arises out of a passion for both ‘sense of place’ and collecting/unearthing treasure. We all keep or preserve things as mementoes and Elaine is able to discover symbolism in the most mundane of objects.

Her work invariably has an air of mystery and ambiguity which is often heightened when subjects are placed in a particular light or landscape.”For me photography has become an ‘act of preservation’ and objects I focus on become the locators or igniters of memory. The traces and remnants we find in any landscape can spark recognition. They can even invoke a presence.”