Luke Hardy Shadowings

The truth lies not in one dream but in many

--Pier Paolo Pasolini, The Arabian Nights

Shadowings continues my exploration of love and loss in dreams and myth that began with Yuki Onna and Dragonfly. All three series are loosely inspired by kwaidanstories and musings on spirit inhabitation that were written down by LAfacdio hearn n Japan just over a century ago.

One of these tales, ironically named ‘The Reconciliation’, appears in Hearn’s anthology Shadowings. It is a cameo rendering of a haunted domain between attachment and renunciation. No need to tell the story here. I am drawn more to the emotion the story elicits. 

In these images, the prevailing motif is long, black hair: the outer fabric of dreams, memory and nostalgia. Caressed, indulged and tugged. Invoking, ensnaring, unravelling.