The Animal Behind the Name
2004–2005
Portrait Cycle
THE HIDDEN SURFACE
Shadows of the Unseen Self
The Animal Behind the Name
2004–2005
THE HIDDEN SURFACE — Shadows of the Unseen Self
Archival pigment print
Analogue photography on film, later digitised
Limited edition
Available upon request
The Animal Behind the Name examines identity as something layered rather than declared. Names organise, domesticate, and assign meaning, yet beneath them persists a more instinctual presence. The image traces the tension between the civil surface of language and the untamed force it conceals.
Within THE HIDDEN SURFACE, this work deepens the series’ exploration of what escapes representation. The body bears a name, a role, a social outline; the animal remains unnamed, sensed rather than described. Shadow becomes the territory where this residual self briefly surfaces.
What is revealed is not opposition, but coexistence.
Photographic Process
Captured through analogue photography on film and later digitised, the work preserves the material subtlety and tonal discipline of film while allowing precise calibration in its final printed form. The process reinforces the image’s attention to texture, instinct, and the fragile boundary between classification and impulse.
Series Context
Following the involuntary confession of shadow, The Animal Behind the Name introduces a primal dimension within THE HIDDEN SURFACE. It reframes identity as a negotiation between what is socially articulated and what remains internally driven, extending the series’ inquiry into the unseen strata of the self.
Availability
This work is available as part of a controlled, limited edition.
Institutional acquisition inquiries are welcome.