Che Sabalja

As an artist, the interchange with my surroundings, in particular nature, has been my impetus, my spark, and indeed my awakening for creation. However, my deeper practice into quieting the mind has lead me to the space amidst contemplation. The breath or the pause between interaction is where I find my work evolving.

Gravitating towards Breton’s Surrealist notion of automatism and the element of chance and playing that into my Buddhist meditative practice of emptying the mind and impermanence has influenced my initial digital photography. The impromptu photographic images of the natural environment are caught by chance and provide a holding place or pause prior to our nuanced contemplation. The transformative process from digital to printmaking or painting alludes to the quiet, the breadth that finds itself releasing and deconstructing organizational thought processes, a flatline, if you will. The rawness of the preceding pause amplifies the subsequent sensory stimuli transcending the interaction to reveal a layered concept of our existence and a nurturing of human consciousness.