a visual dialogue

In this issue we invited two photographers, Australian Arrayah Loynd and Chinese Leslie Shang, artists who initially struggled to find common ground, but quickly found in their art a way to relate through the process of A Visual Dialogue. One was housebound in a micro world while the other responded as he roamed the vastness of China. Both found inspiration in their partner’s photographs as well as in their own worlds. Both reference the land they inhabit, though vastly different. In twelve images they reach a conclusion of connectedness, melding two very different souls into one.
The results are sensitive and deep and are the reason why we do A Visual Dialogue.

Untitled

LESLIE - 12/09/23
Shot at night, the shadow produced by artificial light projected on the plants, like the calligraphy and ink written by ancient Chinese literati, explores the origin of human writing and language through artificial creation, light and nature, as well as Chinese classical culture.

ARRAYAH - 12/9/23
Thank you for sharing your first image, Leslie. It looks very different to your usual work which is something that will also apply to what I produce. The nature of these conversations is to step out of our comfort zone and feel challenged in some way. I find that exciting and uncomfortable in equal measure.
The connection you have found, through the abstract use of light and form, to the written expression of your culture brings up questions around my own history and place in this world.
As an immigrant, I often find myself torn between my old home and the new. We came by ship, across the sea, and landed in a strange yet familiar new world many years ago. The place I live now, here in Australia, is filled with sights, smells and sounds that is a balm for my soul. It is home and has been for many years. The connection to the place of my birth becomes more tenuous as each year passes yet it still pulls on my heart in ways that are hard to explain.
I wanted to create an image of one of my favourite spots where I live, on Wurundjeri land, that illustrates that sense of separation and longing. The line represents how that feeling of belonging to two places has shifted over time.

LESLIE - 15/09/23
When I was a child, I liked to explore. Curious about mysterious things, listening to the village people say that this hole can lead to the other side of the mountain, one day at noon, I and my friends entered with a flashlight, walked dozens of meters, and found that the front is a wall. So far it is a mystery, text symbols, but also the source of human civilization.

The Chinese characters: promoted human civilization. Cave dwelling: the place where ancient people lived. The ancient Chinese literati and politician Zhuge Liang's family letter to his son. "Jiezi book", written on the body with a brush, is also a time and space exchange with the ancients.

ARRAYAH - 16/09/23
I really love the way you have taken yourself back to the mythology and mystery of your childhood in this image. I really resonate with such curious exploration. I think my way of finding this as a child was in books. It was where I could let my spirit soar and find escape from the discomfort of my own world.

Your image took me back to one particular book that I read as a child, not long after we arrived in Australia. I’m not sure how I found it but I know that it had a profound and lasting effect on my imagination. It was filled with the mystery of this country and the history of the lands and its first nations people.

The book, The Nargun and The Stars, by Patricia Wrightson, is a fantasy novel drawn from Australian Aboriginal Mythology. It features a stone-like being, Nargun, brought to life by the imminent destruction of the land. It also features water, tree and cave spirits. It was surreal, scary and moving in so many ways. I had never encountered anything like it before and it filled my mind with awe.

The image I have created is how I saw Nargun in my mind, an enormous, sentient being that is held here amongst the stars.

(NB. There has been some criticism and controversy around this book regarding a non-indigenous author appropriating indigenous stories and myths. )

LESLIE - 18/09/23
I'm traveling through the desert in Qinghai, northwest China, and I arrive at a road sign for an alien site, and I drive into a deserted desert, in the shadow of plants, and I'm naked as a baby in its mother's amniotic fluid.

ARRAYAH - 18/09/23
I feel that this exercise has been less a conversation or dialogue and more of a call and response, where you send an image and I respond to that image with one of my own. This is not intended as a criticism, just an observation as to the rhythm we have found in this process together. I don’t mind this approach as I really enjoy the challenge of being pushed to respond to whatever you throw my way. It is always interesting to see the world through someone else’s eyes - visually, creatively and culturally.

Your world seems quite large to me. My world has been very small for the last several months due to my mental health issues. Not being able to leave the house means that I have to find creative ways to respond to the images that you send to me. I am able to spend small moments in the surrounding bush and waterways that I live amongst. I find great solace and peace here as well as a great source of inspiration for my work.

So, this third image you have sent has taken me on a bit of a journey. The womb-like embrace of your body in the earth, of alienation, takes my mind into memories that were lost for a time.

In the first week of this visual dialogue I found a piece of cloth embedded into the earth. It looked like a piece of baby’s clothing, a small ‘burial mound’ that had slowly been exposed to the elements. I found it fascinating and so took a photo of it knowing that I would use it at a later date. Here, I have combined it with one of my mammogram scans from some time ago.

I love children and I have two of my own. I always wanted more, but, due to a large tumour in my womb, I had to have a hysterectomy in my 30’s. I suppose this image is a form of mourning, grief of what could have been but never was. The combination of that little imagined burial mound, surrounded by my breast, feels like some small acknowledgement of that loss and the feelings that have been buried through the passage of time.

LESLIE - 19/09/23
Thank you very much for telling me your personal experience regarding the removal of your body organ, the uterus. I am very touched. In the salt lake, I discovered a lake that resembles the heart of a human organ. This is also a part of nature’s organs. It is the response of nature to humans. It is the heart of nature.

ARRAYAH - 20/09/23
As always, the images you send to me resonate in a way that opens up new thoughts and questions. Your image is very beautiful. The vastness of the open landscape and the heart-shaped body of water makes me feel like I can breathe deeply. Nature always has this affect on me and is why I live where I do. To be able to immerse myself in the natural environment and have it calm my nervous system allows me to keep going.

Near water is the one place I can feel completely free. It is why I photograph it so much and I often use it as a metaphor to express my inner world. I have always been a swimmer, loving the meditative rhythm of gliding through the water, feeling weightless and free. I haven’t been swimming this year. Something within me is lost, my heart is shut down and unable to do the things that once brought me joy. I have lost the ability to feel, for others and for myself. I hope it is a temporary state.

The image I have created is of a billabong, a small, natural body of water. It is covered by an unusually thick layer of scum that is blocking visibility and the ability for light to penetrate or be reflected on its surface.

LESLIE - 21/09/23
When I walk among the mountains, I want to stand on the top of the mountain and open my arms. When I stand on the top of the mountain, feel the wind, and see the endless desert at my feet, I think of the movie "The Passion of the Christ". For me, the body was also experiencing the pain of nature and life, but Jesus finally rose from the dead,

 Just like the stagnant pool you photographed, it is covered, and your body is experiencing pain. Similarly, the water itself is still clear, and the body itself is the carrier of our personal spirit. So as long as you have enough faith and a rich spirit (I miss), your heart will also be opened. Likewise, we must complete our own redemption before we can be reborn!

ARRAYAH - 21/09/23
What an incredible landscape. When I saw this image I imagined you flying. Not physically but with your eyes closed as if in a meditative state and your spirit flying high above. It felt uplifting to me and filled with lightness.

I wanted to be up in that sky looking down, imagining what you would see and how you would feel. My image is an abstract interpretation-the landscape shimmering with light, the lines representing your outstretched arms and legs in the form of a cross and the light emanating from within as you soar in the sky.

Your words about my previous image with the water still being clear underneath were inspiring. Sometimes we can’t see what is ahead of us when our vision is obscured. Sometimes we need a different perspective to understand that the world is bigger and brighter than imagined.

LESLIE - 24/09/23
With pen and ink, I wrote Chinese characters and English on the printed pattern of god and man worshiped by Chinese people. I also chose the words we exchanged previously and a paragraph you wrote, trying to connect our different cultural attributes.

ARRAYAH - 25/09/23
Your last image was very powerful. It made me feel seen and heard and it moved me enormously. The way you used our words to create a bridge between our cultures was inspiring. My final image is a visual response to that, combining the images that we have exchanged over the course of this conversation to create that same bridge. I wrote what I hope are the correct Chinese characters for ‘so beautiful, it brought a tear to my eye’ within the image. It is what I first wrote in response to your image. This is also in appreciation of the effort you have gone to in communicating with me despite the language barrier. Thank you.

I have really enjoyed this exchange with you. It has challenged and inspired me into new ways of thinking and seeing. I look forward to seeing what the future brings for us both.

Following the collaboration we asked Arrayah and Leslie about the experience.

Describe the collaborative process with a total stranger on the other side of the world.
Arrayah: I really enjoyed this process. It is often uncomfortable to be pushed outside of your comfort zone, but I understand enough about myself now to know that I perform very well under pressure, especially creatively. So even though I felt anxious in the beginning, I knew it would be an exciting challenge. I had just finished working on a series, so the timing was great. Working with another artist that I didn’t know, with geographical, cultural and language differences, was a wonderful way to see the world from another perspective. I felt like it allowed me to start something fresh and unknown and without preconceived ideas of what that would or should be.
Leslie: A meaningful way to create is a de-personalization process, the presentation of the work is related to the story of the interlocutor. I am also grateful to Arrayah for her patience and to see-zeen for giving me this opportunity to communicate in A Visual Dialogue.

How did the visual dialogue affect your work?
Arrayah: I think we both grew in our image making over the course of this dialogue. I love that we came to the end with a melding of our words and images, it felt right and a lovely acknowledgement and appreciation of one another and what we shared. I usually work with bright colour so it was interesting to see the darkness present itself in my imagery here. Leslie has a genuine curiosity and optimism about the world that is reflected in his work. Mine is much more internal and a barometric reading of my current state of mind. I really am grateful that Leslie was able to show me some light in the world that is hard for me to see sometimes. 
Leslie: It has brought me to a new direction for projects and the process of creation has also brought me a more powerful physical perception in the spirit of getting along with nature, which is about the simplicity of the road in Chinese culture.

How will it affect the way you work, or think about making work in the future?
Arrayah: Creating these images got me out of the house and taking photos again. After struggling with agoraphobia for several months, I found that going out with a purpose really helped me to step over the threshold, physically and mentally. My recent series, Pain Always Finds the Surface Vol. 1, centers around my struggles. I am now working on volume 2 that reflects my increasing ability to find the light again. They may only be small moments but it gets better with each day. So, this Visual Dialogue has actually instigated a whole new body of work. Thank you!
Leslie: It mainly controls the timeliness of the project, as well as the overall main line structure, and shoots from culture, history, roots and expanded regional environment around the theme, which will greatly improve the visual richness and academic nature of the work.

arrayah loynd @arrayahloyndphotographer
@leslieshang_

more visual dialogues