A Smaller Space

Lidocaine, Phenol, and Benzodiazepine are common neural and muscular anesthetics that block sodium channel receptors from receiving and sending pain messages to the brain. They can also inhibit other biological systems such as sight, causing hallucinations, muscular control and taste, and may cause sedation. But what do they do to chromogenic photo paper?

A Smaller Space displays chemical reactions joined with inorganic objects as photographs in color. As I began this process, I found the stellar resemblance of these reactions projected with light onto the photosensitive paper. I began to make miniature stars, galaxies, nebulae, black holes, and quasars on the paper. By reactive acidic solutions, basic solutions, and neutral salts together, they ate away at the paper emulsion and dye layers, stained the paper in a broad spectrum of colors, and created natural shapes each unique. There is no control of the reactions and the form they take. After blindly mixing solutions and solids on the paper in the complete dark, I found each result after the full development process.

I find these prints calming to the mind, like these anesthetics are to the nerves. Imagination came through chemistry in colors and shapes as a mimicry of the large scale chemical reactions playing across the universe. And so, the space you see is smaller.