Dylan Shadbolt Midnight presence

With nightfall, Australia’s suburbs and their surrounds are plunged into darkness, the spirit of daytime transformed into a sense of vacancy and apprehension. The representations of empty scenes in my body of work focus on the night-time interactions of artificial light and urban form. Isolated and melancholy, these unguarded locations provide for no-one, merely acting as ineffectual traces of human existence. The camera’s gaze into these areas is detached and almost voyeuristic, recording the unnerving and uncanny presence that permeates the night. My work confronts the audience to appreciate night’s nihilistic, eerie and tense nature – but also its often-overlooked beauty.

Influencing artists:
Todd Hido
Gregory Crewdson
Trent Parke
Louise Hearman
Chen Wei