Drawn to Fire

Drawn to Fire is an ongoing photography project that I first started back in 2006.

It is a project that connects many of my passions. My love of nature, fine art photography, bushcraft and camping out alone; working to create a temporary sensory space where I can immerse myself in the art making process.

The work explores the notion of an artistic and meditative focal point. Each work is a unique record of a performance around a campfire in a remote location; exploring the mark-making potential of light in the darkness the elements and the senses.

The work is concerned with reconnecting with a primal energy, working with and trying to capture an ancient light; starlight, moonlight, campfire light.

In each temporary location, fire – the human signature – is celebrated amongst a greater spectrum of available, often natural light.

Drawn to Fire is about working in the outdoors to nurture a positive space to birth the art within centred around a campfire.

My bushcraft skills allowed me to camp out on the land and granted me a creative freedom to experience the space. My relationship with fire and the location are both the subject and the sitter within all of these photographs.

I would often stay awake all night when I made this work; waiting for the light to feel just right. Committed to spend the night in the location come what may allowed a letting go of time; sometimes a peaceful meditation would develop between myself and the campfire.

I view my work as a kind of abstract-expressionistic performance, using fire as paint on a scale defined only by the location and the scope of the lens.

Kenny Martin