"The basis of my work is an interest in the visual construction of illusory interior spaces. For years my conceptual focus was the observation and interpretation of the private domestic arena. From 1985-99, my home and immediate environs were the sources for photographic explorations which were then translated into prints. My earlier focus remains but is now expanded to include a broader range of architectural types and the connotations created by other peoples' homes, ruins, defunct industrial spaces, monuments and museums. In making these images, I attempt to encapsulate the sensory and temporal paradoxes we experience in our everyday surroundings. I am also motivated by observations of the bizarre or incongruous in the mundane and my desire to build an archive of these ephemeral experiences.

Since 1994, I have been working with photogravure. The interaction of ink and paper have a tactile and physical presence while simultaneously evoking a state of photographic memory. The tonal range and brilliance are perfectly suited to my interest in imagery that is constructed of light and shadow contrasts. My background is as a printmaker and previous to 1994 I had been using photographs as a visual reference to create hand drawn prints. Photogravure integrates these two forms of visual representation. It yields an image that is simultaneously a print and a photograph. In 1997, I introduced the book format and the use of text, and letterpress printing, into my practice. Photogravure is a wonderful solution to the challenge of incorporating photographic image directly into the page of the book."

View Marlene MacCallum's Work in Collection