Family Matter 17 , 2014
20 x 20 in (h x w)
Gum bichromate print with blood

“Family matter” is a series of gum bichromate prints made with blood as the main ingredient of their chemical formula. I am not interested in the anachronism of making images with a 19th century process long superseded by sharper, faster methods, but gum bichromate allows for a high degree of flexibility. I have an almost alchemical belief in the meaning that is contained in physical materials, and when this peculiar form of power is introduced into the illusionistic realm of the photographic image, another level of signification is made possible. Father and son reading with limbs intertwined, or picnicking by the side of a stream, start to tease each other and then play fight and roughhouse until one or both get hurt. The inevitability of this progression from playfulness to real anger both frustrates and fascinates me: testing, aggression and love are confused, inseparable. As mother, maker, one point of the family triangle, I use my own blood to denote the fact that I am bound to these males and implicated in their routine, though their behaviors feel profoundly foreign tome. As photographer and observer, I have an invisible role in the scene being played out; I am present but beyond the frame. The veracity of these family snapshots is amplified by the presence of my blood in their making, although the bond that exists between people who love each other cannot actually be photographed.

Other works by marina berio

Family Matter 16 , 2014
20 x 20 in (h x w)
Gum bichromate print with blood
Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery
Family Matter 15 , 2014
20 x 20 in (h x w)
Gum bichromate print with blood
Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery
Family Matter 13 , 2014
20 x 20 in (h x w)
Gum bichromate print with blood
Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery
Family Matter 7 , 2008 /13
20 x 20 in (h x w)
Gum bichromate print with blood
Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery
Family Matter 4 , 2008 /13
20 x 20 in (h x w)
Gum bichromate print with blood
Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery

More from Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery

Before the Past, My Spring, Full of You, Rebirth
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60 x 30 in (h x w)
Oil, Mixed media, and assemblage on canvas
Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery
Heaven and Earth Are Dressed in Their Summer Wear (yellow and white polka dots)
60 x 30 in (h x w)
Oil, Mixed media, and assemblage on linen
Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery
Heaven and Earth Are Dressed in Their Summer Wear (pink and green)
60 x 30 in (h x w)
Oil, Mixed media, and assemblage on linen
Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery
Heaven and Earth Are Dressed in Their Summer Wear (Wax Flower)
58 x 41 in (h x w)
Oil, Mixed media, and assemblage on linen
Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery