Léana Clifton

LéAna Clifton, b. Pretoria, South Africa, 1971
I’ve always been inspired by the visceral nature of light in it’s own right. The various photography techniques I use have enabled me to play with light, and hence color and time. To stretch it, to distill it, to break it and redefine it. To turn it into something beautiful and inspiring, absolutely disconnected from the original subject matter, which I see as merely the ‘donor’. To use the camera as a tool to paint with light, in a manner. The blur the line between reality and a dream-state. A 4th dimension.
The relationship between time and light is also integral to my work. My images capture more than an instant in time- my still images represent many ‘instants’, merged. And that tickles my brain a bit.
I feel my art should do/ be three primary things: 1. To delight, uplift and intrigue the viewer. (tickle the viewers brain every time they look at it!) 2. Should be timeless. 3. Should be accessible to all, not just an elite few, hence my embracing of industrial and commercial media in most of my work.