Guy Leighton

My initial interest in Photography and Surrealism has developed over the course of my degree in Film and Digital Art into a fascination with 3D modelling. I am now considering taking this forward in a professional capacity by enrolling in a master’s degree in Visual Effects Production (3D). In my work, I have repeatedly returned to the idea of the eerie and explored this in greater depth in my dissertation on the Uncanny Valley Effect in films. In my work Forlorn Liminality I have created a series of liminal spaces using 3D modelling techniques in the software Blender. I took rendered images in Blender of each of the spaces I created and then layered the images over the top of each other in Photoshop experimenting with blending modes to reach different outcomes. A liminal space can be described as a place stuck in the transitional period between one place and the next. It is at the same time nostalgic as it reminds the viewer of somewhere previously visited but at the same time, it is quite eerie. The most important quality of a liminal space, however, is that they do not have any exits. My initial inspiration behind this concept developed from the experience of isolation brought on by the Covid lockdown period. I explored the work of several artists and was particularly inspired by the impossible illusions of M.C.Escher the staircase concept especially. In addition, I based one of my liminal spaces on the works of James Casebere who sculpts modern-looking homes over still water.