Thomas Philbrick

I find Dot’s (@dotjackson.hi) work so interesting for how strong its themes are and how it always seems to draw an intuitive response from my mind and heart, even when I don’t understand the reasons why. Her body of work is full of juxtaposition in material and form as well as discerning use of language. Two pieces of hers have stuck with me over the years. “Birth Weight,” a self portrait made of fabric, cut and bound in the pattern of a cinderblock, weighing approximately as much as she did when born. I got to see and interact with the piece at an open studio day a couple years back and it left a deep impression on me without needing to explain itself. The other is “Bound While the Baby Slept,” a book of empty pages bound during her firstborn son’s bedtimes.
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It’s an honor, every time, to enter the studios of my friends and document them while they work. Home studios always feel meditative, isolated, hyper personal, and purposeful. To be allowed into those spaces so that I can take pictures, setting off my flashes some few hundred times while distracting them with conversation requires a good deal of trust. I’m thankful, as the work made in that collaboration is always rewarding and illuminating.
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I love the way Dot’s work photographs, particularly her use of tulle. The way it layers, bunches, and allows light to pass through makes it sometimes feel blurry, almost as if it was vibrating and shot at a slow shutter speed. That quality contrasts beautifully with the cinderblock shape common to much of her work. Check out her Instagram and website to get a better overview of her body of work. I’m sharing the two pieces mentioned in this post on my story if you haven’t seen them yet.