Reflections After Artist Talk: Illuminating Perspectives

A Conversation with Filmmaker Sam Galloway | May 4th

Since presenting Illuminating Perspectives, I’ve been sitting with what surfaced—ideas, emotions, and the quiet clarity that light continues to offer in my work and life.

This was my first public conversation with Sam Galloway, though our creative connection began unfolding mid last year. What started as the early stages of a documentary about my practice quickly evolved into a deeper collaboration—one rooted in shared fascinations: silence, presence, and the ways light can hold what words often cannot.

A Conversation Shaped by Light

We both work with light in very different ways—Sam through film, video art, photography and installation, me through painting and visual language. Yet in preparing for the talk, it became clear that light was more than just a medium. It was a metaphor, a mood, a mirror. It became the thread that connected our practices.

We spoke about light not only as something seen but something felt. Light as colour and atmosphere. Light as the first sensation before a story even begins. Light as the thing that reveals, and also the thing that softens or shields.

Contrast, Tension, and What’s Left Unsaid

A recurring motif in both our work is the tension between light and shadow. We’re both drawn to that space between control and instinct, the balance between restraint and release. During the talk, the image of “light breaking through” kept returning—not as a planned talking point, but as a felt truth. It’s something we both seem to circle around in different ways: emergence, survival, and the kind of quiet resistance that doesn’t ask for permission.

Audience as Witness

What stayed with me most was the audience—their openness, their reflections. People spoke about moments when light shifted something in them. When something internal was briefly echoed outside themselves. When art installations moved beyond the visual and became something immersive—something remembered.

It reminded me that art doesn’t have to explain itself to be understood. And that light, in all its forms, might be one of the most honest languages we have.

What Comes Next

Sam and I are now in conversation about a more integrated collaboration—one that weaves painting, moving image, and sound into a unified work. A continuation of this dialogue around light, silence, and visibility.

This talk marked a beginning. A way of speaking about things that don’t always have words. I’m grateful for what we created—for what was shared and for what was felt in the spaces between.

There’s more to come. But for now, I’m holding onto the clarity this event offered—and the quiet certainty that light, gentle and fierce, will continue to lead the way. You can watch it here..

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