Dominic Hawgood

Casting Out the Self is a project I saw at Foam. In this work, Hawgood visualises the effects of the substance dimethyltryptamine (DMT), an experience that, for the artist, feels as if he is stepping into a digital dimension.

What I find interesting about this project is that Hawgood attempts to translate an inner, subjective experience into something external and shareable with multiple viewers. This seems challenging to me, because what something feels like to me is not necessarily the same for someone else. You cannot look inside someone else’s mind.

In conversation, he explained that he is constantly thinking about how an image is constructed and how it can activate the viewer’s imagination. Light plays a central role in this process; it becomes a tool for shaping perception. I asked him whether he still considers himself a photographer. No, his practice has now moved across different disciplines. Still, I feel that the fundamental principles of photography remain strongly present in his work by light, composition, and the way an image can construct meaning.