SOCKET Magazine - London Metropolitan University

Trace
SOCKET
Chameleon
A Source of energy connecting people
Agora
Eyesome
1

EDITOR’S NOTE
02
A magazine is synonymous with revelation, sharing and
reflection; it is a colourful compact guide through ideas
and suggestions that can stay with us even after newspaper
headlines are shredded and hasty videos are scrolled
away. There is no ‘perfect’ or ‘easy’ way to create and
launch a magazine. Yet, the 20/21 BA Photography Year
2 students of the School of Art, Architecture and Design,
London Metropolitan University, brought together
their creative idiosyncrasies to produce a fantastic
source of collective energy and inspiration – aptly called
SOCKET.
16
Diverse photographic genres blend in a symbiotic narrative
that features selected work from the students’
array of projects. They reach out to the world with an
inspective eye (AGORA), follow people to their various
roots (TRACE), expose our shapeshifting mood
in our strive for survival (CHAMELEON), and shed
a spotlight on digital heroes and hidden icons (EYE-
SOME). The productive cross-contamination of creative
practices (in this instance, photography, poetry and
painting) is celebrated as a serious field of enquiry in
which the process of discovery transcends to the final
outcome.
Yiannis Katsaris
Senior Lecturer, BA Photography
London Metropolitan University
32
OUTLET 30
We’re not just pretty. A showcase of alternate non photographic
works made by our photography students.
BEHIND THE SCENES 36
Read up on techniques and view images used to create
featured student work and how they made it happen in
our BTS article - it will be sure to inspire.
COMPETITION 62
Read up on techniques and view images used to create
featured student work and how they made it happen in
our BTS article - it will be sure to inspire.
46
SWITCH 68
‘The Artist who thrives in Solitide’
An interview with Cristian Marianciuc on his
stylistic and intricately decorated, Origami
Cranes.

C O N T E N T S
Agora 02
Chameleon 32
Taking a look at the
realms we occupy,
Agora seeks to document
and study the central public
space, the one that connects
the multiplicity of the personal
familiarity with the
wider human existence. It’s
values and its social occupancy.
Our places of shared
cultures and beliefs. Where
we inhabit one space, experience
similar moments -
the universality of the life of
humankind.
Trace 16
V01L5MU
Discovery and experimentation
are a cornerstone
of photographic
practice, we utilise photographic
techniques, a play
on visuals, distortion of
reality, costume and metaphor,
process and manipulation,
to investigate and interrogate
the world around
us, and a space where discovery
is realised through
investigation and iteration.
Eyesome 46
Exploring the evolution
of human interconnection,
and the complexity
within this world. An
image worth more than a
thousand words, breaking
the barrier of what is documented.
Aiming to address
through visual concepts,
the future and present
affairs that are a part of
society and its inhabitants.
The ‘eye’ is the viewpoint,
the engagement with the
prospect and the possibilities
of our unknowns,
on a personal or universal
scope. The ‘some’ is that
of us all, the ‘sum’ of humanity
and its interwoven
workings, in a collective,
world-image with multiple
adaptations.
1

Agora
2

Being Glitch
by Douglas Reeves
Asleep, I dream of becoming lost in a cave that lies beneath
a mountain of silver and glass surrounded by a clouded ar-
chipelago, dazzled by the blue light of its nectareous pools.
3

Our perpetual shift between the reality of our
environment, flattened by the digital rubble,
drawn beneath by the mighty pedlars of digital pills.
Scrutinised, controlled, subjugated.

The relentless ever-chang-
ing shift of society, and the
cultural personal sphere.
We move around like elec-
tricity and circuit board. We
find ourselves living in an
ever-increasing immersive
digital societal reality, half in
and half out of online reality
and physical reality.
Our minds consumed by the
hunger and addiction toward
a need to be a part of some-
thing bigger, blurring the
lines between the virtual and
the real. Human and Digital.
We enter and leave each
other’s existences in fleeting
ways both in real life and in
social media.
Using a smartphone’s pan-
oramic image technology,
Being Glitch(ed) attempts
to contextualise the mean-
ing of modern technology
to the sense of self, and the
power of influence it has on
our existence. A connection
between technology and the
human, and a metaphor of
the disruption of the ordinary.
Its context is also rooted
in the history of phenome-
nology in philosophy.
5

6
Release
by Angela Dominguez

7

The City that Creeps
by Deva Rishi
Since the 15th century, Bricklane has become
a haven for immigrants who settled in this area
opening new businesses, shops and religious
centres. In history, Brick Lane’s streets have
seen many famous and great people, including
Mahatma Gandhi and Gilbert & George.
The time that destroyed entire continents and
empires did not change this corner of London
very much. Externally, Brick Lane remains as it
was for many centuries, its mystic atmosphere
and mood, unchanged. Despite this, it is
obvious that this is not forever. The modern
city approaches from all sides.
I do not want to leave this place, I want to
wander around, and enjoy the atmosphere, to
stay in its cosy bars and restaurants, variety
of styles and colours of clothes offered in its
unique shops.
8

Bricklane is under threat from the ever-encroaching City of London.
Will it be lost forever?
Or is there still time to save this architectural jewel?
9

10
The Unseen by James Denton

11

Mornings in
Greenwich
by Kristian Stoynev
The morning is a peaceful time. Some go to work,
others exersise, nevertheless all of us start our days
the same way.
This project obserevs the thing we have in common,
in that specific time. The way you start your day
could define how you think and act throughout that
day.
We all seek inner and outer peace. Consider srtarting
your day with a smile or a good deed, it could
make someone’s day.
12

13

Red Telephone
Box
by Nigel Rodriguez
Once in the spotlight,
now in the shadows!
14

15

Alba De la Cruz Soto, Christopher Powe, Ciara Davies, Daniel Atash, Denitsa Stoyanova, Matei Pop.
Trace

Untitled
by Christopher Powe
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18

19

YES Theory
by Alba De La Cruz Soto
At its core, it’s a movement that
encourages individuals to say ‘YES’
to doing things out of their comfort
zone in order to grow as individuals.
By seeking discomfort we can have
new experiences and develop empathy
while doing so, because we are
interacting with people from all walks
of life and backgrounds.
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by Matei Pop
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I am Nature
by Denitsa Stoyanova
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
William Wordsworth
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25

Domestic Violence
by Daniel Atash Barghi
“In a healthy relationship, vulnerability is
wonderful. It leads to increased intimacy and
closer bonds. When a healthy person realizes
that he or she hurt you, they feel remorse and
they make amends. It’s safe to be honest. In
an abusive system, vulnerability is dangerous.
It’s considered a weakness, which acts as an
invitation for more mistreatment. Abusive people
feel a surge of power when they discover a
weakness. They exploit it, using it to gain more
power. Crying or complaining confirms that
they’ve poked you in the right spot.”
- Christina Enevoldsen, The Rescued Soul:
The Writing Journey for the Healing of Incest
and Family Betrayal
26

27

Lucid Dreams
by Ciara Davies
“I like the night. Without the
dark, we’d never see the stars.”
Stephenie Meyer
28

29

OUTLET
Photographers are practitioners who usually have
numerous outlets for expressing their creativity besides
photography. These pages feature poetry and a painting
produced by this issue’s creators and contributors.
‘To My Ex’ By Isabella Bosi
For our curves mould neatly into the
others shape,
Grinning faces blaze, both parallel.
God bites it’s bottom lip,
First the devils tip,
Mirroring, in a violent dance
Within this wicked well.
Temptation is merely coercing,
Whilst you kneel, creatively nursing,
a vacant throbbing swell.
Thrashing and dethroning,
Here lies a saint-less, soothing,
Bold and burgundy hell.
Read 22:48
Our bruising fruits,
And bleeding gooey juices,
Leading to liquid kisses.
Stretching and expanding,
Propelling and vibrating,
Discovering what loose is.
Our feelings and our succulent sex
scrambled in refusals,
Alike our sticky, young organs
enveloping our bones.
Just spooning out my mind with,
Moans and groans, and shown
To be each-others muses.
Our fleshy appetite, now our bellies full,
Entwined in biological nooses.
But with the willingness to grow.
Read 22:49
30

‘Faceless’by Ciara Davies, 18 Nov 2020 31

Chameleon
32
Amy Bloomfield, Christal Gentles, Giulia Ballarin, Tristan Jones, Vaiva Botyriute.

Phantasmic Megacosm
by Tristan Jones
Incoherent Interweave
33

Auroral Entity
Aeonian Rift
Amorphous Orbit
Sprightly Photon Interlace
34

Chimerical Realm
35

BEHIND
THE
SCENES
with Tristan Jones
This project was always going to be an inductive exercise,
the process and experimentation would determine
the outcome, through discovery and iteration. The constructs
and staging were created from common household
objects. Everyday materials and non-studio LED
light sources were used to project, blend, diffuse and
overlay light, shadow and colour.
The objective was to create individual pieces, crafted from
light, shadow and form, utilising long exposure and motion
to capture the surreal and ambiguous.
As I kept experimenting with the
sets, exposure and lighting, I gained
insight into what was producing the
most interesting imagery and how to
iterate further, but there were plenty
of failures to learn from too!
36

Method: Still Life - The Stage/Staging.
Theme: Surrealism, Altered Reality,
Futurism, Sublime, Fantasy, Abstraction.
Experimentation led to eight individual shoots.
Some were iterations of a prior setup, the rest,
crafted afresh. These are two of the individual stages
and constructs that led to further iterative shoots
and imagery.
I photographed both the wider staged area and focused
close into the construct, rotating them for
motion, zooming the lens for stepped blur and repeat-pattern
capture, whilst also changing lighting
colours during the 2-6 second exposures.
Finally, within the last iteration, I utilised multiple
exposures, to further blend imagery from the stencil
cutout.
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38

Baby E
by Christal Gentles
39

not enough not enough not enough not enough
not enough not enough not enough not enough not enough not
not enough not enough not enough not enough not enough not
not enough not enough not enough not enough
by Giulia Ballarin
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e v e r y t h i n g f e e l s h e a v y
o n m y h e a d o n m y
s h o u l d e r s o n m y
s t o m a c h
I c a n ’ t c o n t r o l m y
t h o u g h t s a n d s o m y
e m o t i o n s
T h e y ’ r e d r a g g i n g m e
s o m e w h e r e r e a l l y d a r k
a n d s c a r y s o m e w h e r e I
d o n ’ t w a n t t o g o
N o n r i e s c o a
m u o v e r m i
c o s a c ’ è d i s b a g l i a t o
i n m e
c o s a c ’ è d i s b a g l i a t o i n
m e
I w i s h I c o u l d j u s t b e
f r e e o f t h i s
f r e e o f m y s e l f
I d o n ’ t d e s e r v e t o s p e a k
t o b e n o t i c e d t o h a v e
p e o p l e a r o u n d m e
I d o n ’ t d e s e r v e t o b e
l o v e d
M i s c o p p i a l a t e s t a
41

Movie Stills
by Vaiva Botyriute
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Restless
by Amy Bloomfield
Take a walk with me.
I know not where, nor how
With who it matters not
But why...
Why we must walk so far for so long
Barefoot on the concrete paths in our heads
Every electrical impulse another twist in the road
This winding trail knows no bounds - and my mind
My mind is free
from the constraints of conscious thought.
Take a walk with me.
Try to breathe deep, keep calm
Or fall prey to a chaotic haze of your own creation.
Count sheep if you must
For this won’t quell your
cognisance
But distract you from the bete noir
hiding in your dreams.
Hold firm to reality
or feel it slip through your
fingers to manipulate the dark
Until the benign pile of clothes in the corner of your room
threatens a long nights slumber.
45

Eyesome
Eyesome
Beatrice Lauckner, Bekah Mayes, Bella Bosi, Cheryl Scott, Joseph Crawley, Victor Dobritan.

verb: put right; correct
Rectify
by Bella Bosi
Online \ offline, public \ private, seen \ unseen.
Advertising from the intimate spaces of home, once as live realities, performances of
existence that play in between those binaries. The camera is theirs and mine and the
stills were ‘taken’ and abstracted. Privacy is key. I rectify the image accordingly.
The premise is unnerving, but what lies behind the censorship is a step further than
uncomfortable. For the viewer, there is still an internalised urge for visibility.

48

Are you identifiable in such
spaces, when you cannot take
full presence?
‘THEM’ objects
Here, I objectify the ‘THEM’ by objectifying
objects. There is an element of
disclosure, exposing a product of their
identity within their homes. Our Home
and it’s contents can be markings of a
sense of self, extensions of who we are.
These objects reveal this notion, whilst
forming relationships with the absent
space and the people it holds.
‘THEM’ objects is an attempt to make the unseen – seen again. Giving just enough away
in a singular object, to feed the desires within ‘RECTIFY’, by allowing you to know who
‘THEM’ might be.
49

IN CONVERSATION by Bea Lauckner
with RUARIDH MOLLICA on the skate community.
50
How long have you been skating? What was the skate
scene for you growing up?
I’ve been skating probably over the course of the last 10 years.
The skate scene for me growing up was very much indoor skate
parks. I remember first time I went to transgression, which is
an indoor skate park in Edinburgh was in 2009 and the first
few times I actually went on a BMX and fell and swore to never
touch a BMX ever again. So then I picked up skating and this
guy in his 40’s at the time around in the boom of skating, just
had a real passion for it and started teaching me how to ollie and
stuff like that and kind of got my passion growing. Luckily from
that I met a few other skater friends, because there wasn’t that
many skaters who were ten or eleven years old in Edinburgh at
the time. Most of them were all older. When I was learning to
skate, there was a dip in the popularity of it. There was all of the
young guys and then all of the older guys who would hang out
at Bristo Square, and occasionally we would go to Bristo Square
and try and shred with the older guys, but they were always
really intimidating so we didn’t go near the stuff they would use.
I went through a weird phase of putting together a skate team
and we were terrible. That was the scene growing up and as I got
older I got more comfortable with skating and myself. I began
to speak to more people at different spots and over the course
of me growing up it just so happened that the skate scene got
bigger and bigger too.
The skate community worldwide is one like no other.
Specifically looking at the Scottish community, and
Edinburgh – what does this community look like to
you?
I think being a part of the skate community in Edinburgh is not
just about skating. Sure, that is the main reason why people
are there but tied into that seems to be this underlying care for
independent local shopping and sustainability is in there as well
and just a general community of friendly faces that you know
everyone has something in common and I think that is lovely.
Would you say this community defines you in any way?
I would definitely say the skate community has helped define
who I am as a person. I think having the ability to be in that
environment, and be themselves, does give you the confidence
to be yourself and find who you are alongside all these other
people. The skate scene influences the music you listen to, the
way you dress, it comes with a culture that you adopt and attach
to yourself and that in turn does define you.
You said you’ve been consistent with it (skating) this
year in particular, has this got something to do with
lockdown and COVID would you say?
I found skating a really therapeutic thing, like a meditation, all
I can think about while skating IS skating so it was an escape at
the beginning.

EDINBURGH COMMUNITIES
with EWAN HUTCHISON on the importance of locality
in the food industury.
Looking at the nature of your business – food trucks encourage
people to connect with their local community – do you find this
to be true to your experience?
Street food, before all this, when they (people) were coming to your truck,
or your hut, there was an amazing connection. They know that you’re from
Scotland, or you’re from Edinburgh. People are coming up, they’re getting
to see the food being made, they’re directly asking the person who is cooking
it where the foods from etc. they can also follow you around, you know,
follow from event to event, you can tell people where you’re going to pop up
next. You do see it, you see the same faces in different locations and the different
events that you do. So people love that side of it. They love supporting
something that’s a bit closer to home. My street food business only started
4 years ago, so people have literally seen you grow and progress. They can
follow your journey.
What does being a part of this community serve you?
I love it. I absolutely love it. I love the thought of ‘If I don’t go to work, I
don’t make money’. I like not being a number in an office. You go to an event
and you know the people working right beside you. That’s what is really nice
about street food. You’re essentially competitors with each other but there
is just none of that. If you see someone’s really busy, you’re super happy for
them. When I was in Glasgow, working in the truck, there were six other
trucks right beside us. You know that if you can bring people into the space,
then everyone’s going to benefit from it. It’s a really nice community.
51

EDINBURGH COMMUNITIES
with LIQUORICE on the music community in Scotland.
What was the music to you when you were young?
The bands I was obsessed with growing up were hugely male dominated, because for so long, I honestly
thought that it was just the bands with boys in them that were the cool ones. I cried when they came on
stage. I find the whole hysteria over boy bands so fascinating now, I was infatuated by their charisma, the
way they played their instruments, and how they just had fun on stage unapologetically. I think I was so
amazed by it because it was something I never really thought I could do, as similarly to many girls, I wasn’t
brought up thinking I could ever be in a band myself. It’s just something girls aren’t told they can do, in the
same way boys are, within the mainstream. It makes me laugh now when I think about the pedestal I put boys
who could play instruments on. I hope that progressively, more and more young girls go to watch musicians
and love them because they aim to be like them, rather than aiming to be with them.
What does being a part of the music scene in Scotland, in particular Edinburgh, serve you?
The intimacy of the music scene in Scotland is something I’ve always found enticing. Edinburgh in particular
has such a supportive community of bands and musicians, venues are incredibly welcoming and the
artists look out for each other, which I think is so important for grassroot bands like us.
How do you see the future of this scene?
It’s totally heartbreaking to watch all of our favourite venues suffer at this awful time for the industry. There
has been a complete lack of financial support for the arts during the pandemic, and it’s the independent venues
and self-employed that have suffered the most. As well as losing a lot of money, losing a means to your
art is such a difficult thing to process. It feels as though your purpose is slightly lost, in a way. However, in
the midst of all the bleakness, I certainly have hope that very soon there will be a new wave of opportunities
and experiences. I think the music scene will look completely different. Things won’t go back to ‘normal’,
which is good, we need a reshuffle. As much as I love the industry, there’s a lot that needs to change. Whatever
happens though, we’ll be providing the soundtrack...
53

Wordy Paintings
by Bekah Mayes
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55

Hold on to your sanity
By Cheryl Scott
by Cheryl Scott
Misery
Down in the dumps
Feeling screwed up
To escape some may intoxicate
Don’t!
There’s too much at stake
Remind yourself to stay awake
56

Therapy
eyesome
All the things that make you happy
Meditate in peace and tranquillity
Good vibrations
&
Soothing melodies
For all those who care
Thank you for being there
You have been great company
57

58

Hope Springs Eternal
by Joseph Crawley
59

60

Losing
Identity
Meghan Casey Loughran
“Loosing identity as an
artist is one thing, much like
many people in Ireland and
in the North of Ireland have
experienced for hundreds of
years now, on both sides of the
fence.”
by Victor Dobritan
I am interested in producing a series of images
depicting individuals which are spiritually
fragmented, pursuing their goals and trying their
best to find and define themselves.
My first case study was Drama, when I came
across a deeper meaning of losing identity. I have
learned that seeking your true self is not only a
matter of profession, but also might be a fight in
keeping alive your heritage and traditions.
My project showcases the first generation of
Northern Irish people away for the horror of war,
struggling to find who they really are and where
they fit into our modern society. Meghan Casey
Loughran, in her 20’s represents a voice free to
create, and free to break down boundaries set
out by history. Acting since she was 5, Meghan
describes her art as extremely important and for
this reason she found my project as an amazing
opportunity to express herself in a different
medium rather than stage.
In the light of our reality, Meghan is speaking
about this new normal, when yet we cannot be
together to attend theatres and performances as
we always do due to the pandemic.
Being so proud of her national identity, Megan
refers to my project as a “clearer sense of her
identity both as an artist and as a person of
Irish heritage”.
According to Meghan, “Loosing identity as
an artist is one thing, much like many people
in Ireland and in the North of Ireland have
experienced for hundreds of years now, on
both sides of the fence”.

COMPETITION
This
competition was open to students of photography
and visual arts subjects aged 16 or over and in full-time
further education at schools or colleges in the United
Kingdom. Students were asked to submit their favourite
portrait, landscape and still life photographs.
Best Portrait Courteney Blackman, Farnborough Sixth Form College
62
We would like to thank and congratulate the
24 finalists whose work you can see in this
magazine as well as those students whose
work has been highly commended and will
be shown on our BA Photography Website.
However, we also wish to thank all the
students who submitted the many wonderful
entries from around the country. All the judges
commented on the quality of images, how
hard it was to make decisions and how much
they enjoyed seeing the work from the 260
entries we received.
Congratulations to Tilly Reed from New College
in Doncaster for her still life entry that has
won the Your Things category and to Courtney
Blackman from Farnborough Sixth Form College
for her winning image in the Your People
category of the competition.

YOUR PEOPLE, YOUR PLACES, YOUR THINGS
Portrait Landscape Still Life
Overall Winner &
Best Landscape
Alexander Phocas, Godalming College
Best Still Life
Tilly Reed, New College Doncaster
A huge well done to Alexander Phocas from
Godalming College for his landscape image that
not only wins the best in the Your Places category
but is the overall winner of the competition.
Thank you to Metro Imaging (www.metroimaging.co.uk)
for supporting the competition and
providing 12 shortlisted finalists with a C-Type
digital print of their work.
And thank you to the students, alumni and
staff for their time and diligence in judging the
competition.
Judges:
Alba De La Cruz Soto, Angela Blazanovic,
Christiana Pietzsch, Chuck Chakarov, Cristi Andrei
Smadoiu, David George, Douglas Reeves,
Giulia Simonotti, Isabella Bosi, James Russell
Cant, Kasia Kowalska, Mina Boromand, Rachel
Demmen, Vaiva Botyriute

RUNNERS UP
Landscape
Jonathan Armitage, Long Road Sixth Form College Cambridge
Lucy Bentley, Callywith College Bodmin
Rayane Sutcliffe, Craven College, Skipton
Portrait
64
Catherine Byrom, Long Road Sixth Form College Cambridge

Deborah Omoruanzoje, Robert Clack Sixth Form
Rosina Canty, Long Road Sixth Form College Cambridge
Still Life
Clockwise:
Emi-Lee Bracegirdle, The Sixth Form Bolton
George Fallon, Brockenhurst college
Holly Jenkins, Blackpool Sixth Form
65

SHORTLISTED IMAGES
Landscape
Berhan Arslan, The College Of Richard Collyer
James Dobson, The Sixth Form College Farnborough
Rosanna Jewell, Long Road Sixth Form College Cambridge
Yusuf Uddin, City and Islington Sixth Form College
Portrait
66
Freya Milligan, The College of Richard Collyer
Sammy Howarth, Blackpool Sixth Form

Willow Hartshorn, New College Doncaster
Yusuf Uddin, City and Islington Sixth Form College
Still Life
Daniel Burke, BHASVIC
Freya Milligan, The College of Richard Collyer
Isla Macdonald, Callywith College Bodmin
Jake Griffin, Long Road Sixth Form College Cambridge
67

SWITCH
Cristian Marianciuc
the artist that thrives in solitude
INTERVIEW
When did you first become interested in origami?
I have folded simple models as a kid, without knowing what origami
was. I rediscovered this art form at university, where I took
a subject on Japanese Culture and wrote a paper on origami and
the story of Sadako Sasaki. I felt personally attached to her story
because one of my sisters passed away after having struggled to
the same illness as her, leukaemia.
How much time does it take to create one origami figurine?
It all depends on the design I decide to go with. Since I am constantly
developing new techniques and signature elements and
since I no longer have time constraints, I tend to allow myself as
much time as it is needed to complete one piece: which for my
most recent cranes means on average 15 hours.
How many cranes have you created so far and how much influence
had Sadako Sasaki have over your creation?
During my ‘1000 cranes in 1000 days’ stage of my project, I
folded and decorated approximately 1200 cranes. And since
then, I have allowed myself more time to perfect existing skills
and to develop new ones, so there was no longer a focus on the
frequency of creating new work, but rather a focus on creating
more elaborate work. I would say that since 2017, when I concluded
my initial part of the project, I must have created around
350-400 cranes.
Why did you decide to make 1000 of them?
There is a Japanese tradition called ‘senbazuru’,
which promis es good health or the granting
of a wish to whoever folds 1000 cranes. I
wanted my project to be a respectful nod to this
tradition.
I thrive in solitude, so
this Pandemic hasn’t
affected me as much.
68
East meets East
How did it become a body of work?
I would say it was a dual process: firstly, by
the sheer volume of work, and secondly by
the specificity and the recognizability of said
work. Finding my own, original “voice” took
time and a lot of exploration and experimentation,
but once I found what it was that would
define me as an artist, I believe that was the
moment my work became a cohesive body.
Do each of your individual outcomes hold
separate context or influences or is your
practice a matter of craft before concept?
Absolutely! Although the vast majority of my
work has the same starting point – a traditional
origami crane, each finished piece has a

distinct character. Each one exists in its own universe made up
of multiple layers of meaning, both physical and metaphoric. I
used to rely on a more “free style” approach when I was starting
out, but over the years I developed a precise and thoughtful
creative process.
What themes does your work with origami pursue and what
inspires your uniform creation?
I look for inspiration in several places, some of the main ones
being Japanese and Romanian folklore, Greek mythology,
botany and, my most recent source of inspiration has been the
world of perfume – and to be precise, the relation between the
sense of smell and memories and how this relationship could be
translated with the help of paper sculpture.
How do you go about structuring your shoots of the origami
pieces that are on your Instagram?
I have a very improvised set-up for photography. It often is a
source of much frustration since I am not particularly skilled in
working with a camera, but I make do. I try to use natural light
as much as I can and the “props” I use always must have a very
precise role and meaning in the overall concept of the photo.
Do you consider yourself an artist, and
what does that term mean to you?
I do, yes. I believe an artist is a person who
tries to make sense of his or her environment
by “translating” that environment
with the help of a craft or a meaningful
skill they developed over time and one
that reflects originality and a very personal
perspective.
How do you encourage your creativity in
times where you may struggle mentally,
how have you been coping creatively
during the pandemic?
I started the project which led to my
decision to create art for a living out of
a desire to deal with a rather difficult
struggle with depression a few years ago.
The plan was to fold and decorate one
origami crane daily, for 1000 days. It was
both an exercise in creativity and one in
discipline. That provided me with a rather
strong foundation in terms of maintaining
a healthy balance between work and selfcare.
I thrive in solitude, so this pandemic
hasn’t affected me as much. In fact, I feel
that I have been more productive during
these past few months than I have in a long
time.
How do you measure success and in
that, what has been your most successful
achievement thus far within your
practice?
Tribute
I believe an artist is a person who
tries to make sense of his or her
environment by “translating” that
environment.
I look at success through a personal lens.
I will consider myself successful in my
work for as long as I will find joy and
pleasure in what I do. I made a conscious
decision early on in my career as an
artist to never measure my worth against
anything other than my own enjoyment.
So, I would say that my most successful
achievement is having kept my passion
alive until today, and hopefully for many
years to come.
@icarus.mid.air

s o c k e t
VolL5MU
I N D E X
A G O R A (2)
(6)
- Angela Dominguez, ‘Release’
(8)
- Deva Rishi, ‘The City that Creeps’
(3)
- Doulgas Reeves, ‘Being Glitch’
(10)
- James Denton-Pett, ‘The Unseen’
(12)
- Kristian Stoynev, ‘Mornings in Greenwich’
(14)
- Nigel Rodrigues, ‘Red Telephone Box’
(16)
T R A C E
Alba De La Cruz, ‘Yes Theory’ - (20)
Christopher Powe, ‘Untitled’ - (17)
Ciara Davies, ‘Lucid Dreams’ - (28)
Daniel Atash, ‘Domestic Violence’ - (26)
Denitsa Stoyanova, ‘I am Nature’ - (24)
Matei Pop, ‘H-44.L+52.D-64.S+56’ - (22)
C H A M E L E O N (32)
(44)
- Amy Bloomfield, ‘Restless’
(38)
- Christal Gentles, ‘Baby E’
(40)
- Giulia Ballarin, ‘Not Enough’
(33)
- Tristan Jones, ‘Phantasmic Megacosm’
(42)
- Vaiva Botyriute, ‘Untitled Film Stills’
(46)
E Y E S O M E
Beatrice Lauckner, ‘Edinburgh Communities’ - (50)
Bekah Mayes, ‘Wordy Paintings’ - (54)
Bella Bosi, ‘Rectify/Them Objects’ - (47)
Cheryl Scott, ‘Hold On to Your Sanity’ - (56)
Joseph Crawley, ‘Hope Springs Eternal’- (58)
Victor Dobritan, ‘Meghan’ - (60)
C O N T E N T S (1)
B T S (36) Tristan Jones - Chameleon
Beatrice Lauckner,
C O V E R I M A G E
D E S I G N E D I T O R S C O V E R DESIGN
O U T L E T (30)
Douglas Reeves - Agora
Bella Bosi
Alba De La Cruz - Trace
Douglas Reeves
COMPETITION (62)
Bella Bosi - Eyesome
Douglas Reeves
E D I T O R
(68, Interview)
S W I T C H
Yiannis Katsaris
70
www.ldnmetarts.photography