Ur: A Series Before Form
The Ur series explores a state of the world prior to any recognizable form. Before named continents, before the sea was distinct from land, before myth itself, these works hold to a primordial condition of matter: dense, stratified, and unresolved. Nothing is yet separated, yet everything is already under tension.
The Ur series does not depict landscapes, nor does it illustrate forces in action. It resists narrative and representation. Instead of describing a place, it sustains a condition. Rather than offering a scene, it offers a weight. The works are not images meant to decorate; they are presences meant to be lived with.
Not Landscape, Not Narrative
In the Ur series, there is no horizon, no stable viewpoint, and no spatial invitation. The images do not guide the eye through foreground and background. They remain anchored in deep matter, where slow pressures, latent fractures, and buried light coexist without resolving into story or spectacle.
Each work can be understood as a silent section through deep time. Like a geological cut, it reveals a compressed field where matter remains suspended before any division between ground, sea, and sky. The notion of deep time offers a useful reference point for understanding this temporal scale.
Pedagogy Of The Gaze
The Ur series is closely tied to what I call a pedagogy of the gaze. Viewing here is not immediate or consumable. It is something that unfolds over time. The series is constructed to reward duration rather than instant recognition, asking the eye to slow down and remain present.
This pedagogy operates through restraint. The Ur series does not compete for attention and does not rely on spectacle or narrative cues. Instead, it holds attention by withholding explanation. As the viewer stays, perception shifts: pressure, density, fracture, and light become the primary elements to read.
Importantly, this pedagogy is relational. The works are designed to become familiar through repetition and proximity. They do not aim to impress in a single encounter. They settle into a space and gradually transform how that space is experienced.
A Presence To Live With
When considering the Ur series in a home or a collection, the question is not one of decoration. It is a question of anchoring. These works are meant to endure daily life and changing conditions of light, mood, and season. Although visually restrained, they are not passive. They continue to work on the viewer over time.
The Ur series is not intended to fill a wall. It is intended to give weight to a place. This distinction matters. Rather than functioning as visual consumption, the works establish a sustained presence that accompanies lived experience.
What The Name “Ur” Carries
The name “Ur” refers to what is originary, primordial, and prior to separation. In this context, it does not designate a specific origin story. The Ur series does not attempt to explain where the world comes from. Instead, it remains within a condition where the world has not yet become readable or categorized.
By maintaining this position, the series stays deliberately non-illustrative and non-descriptive. It refuses metaphorical shortcuts and symbolic narration. What remains is matter itself, held in tension, before form settles and meaning stabilizes.
Ultimately, the Ur series is a commitment to slowness and presence. It asks for attention without demanding it. It offers no story, yet it persists. It is not a collection of images to consume, but a body of work to live with.
If you would like to explore how works from the Ur series are made available as limited prints, you can consult the Unique Editions section, which outlines formats and availability while keeping the focus on experience rather than decoration.