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Sean Dower: Artworks and information
'The first of these editioned photographs was taken in Morocco in 1985. I was initially struck by the interaction of mirror, water and light and have been exploring this moment of epiphany since.
The majority of the images have been made in hotels whilst traveling internationally to make exhibitions or performances. Travel often leads to self-reflection and a questioning of identity and bathrooms in turn represent a place where we look closely at our selves and our bodies. I am interested in the anonymous, formal qualities of bathrooms and how we inhabit their 'minimalism' and make them more personal and intimate. The spaces in these photographs are like mini-installations and the similarity of their design with other sanitary spaces (e.g. hospitals and morgues) provides asubtext. When taking the pictures, it often takes some time to get know the space and then I work rather quickly, trying out different permutations. I am usually looking for an essence to the situation and experiment with whatever is to hand, manipulating things subtly until something gels. Sometimes I have inhabited a bathroom for a week and have felt unable to respond to it and there are photographs that haven't made it into the collection. I cannot ultimately understand my fascination with bathrooms, which is why I continue to take the photographs.
On a biographical note, these photographs have turned into a kind of index of my travels and represent a constant, unifying thread to an otherwise migratory identity. The images act as personal repository, with incidents and memories attached to them. Hopefully the images take the viewer on their own journey'.
Above: C-Type prints, Diasec mounted on aluminium. Dimensions variable
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