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About my art

Chemigram means “writing with chemistry” as it combines painting and drawing with the chemistry of photography. However, chemigrams are not photographs, as they are made under ambient light, without a camera or a lens. To make a chemigram, I brush, draw, splash, drip or spray darkroom chemicals onto photosensitive paper. By controlling the action of the chemicals on the paper, I can elicit a wide range of tones, hues, forms, shapes and textures. I achieve this by coating the paper with substances that, over time, become unstuck, crack, erode or dissolve in the chemical solutions. Due to chance, each piece is unique but is guided to foster the emerging composition, colour and mood. I strive to record the maximum amount of detail and depth that the photopaper can resolve. Thus, when printed in large format, the work envelopes the viewer and stimulates contemplation. In addition to museum quality archival giclée prints, I produce short animations, of my chemigrams which are available (as are the static chemigrams) as non-fungible tokens. As the animated chemigrams flow, heave and swirl, they provoke a surreal hypnotic experience

About me

David Sacks is South African (b. 1986) and has lived and worked in Johannesburg (South Africa), Boston (USA), and Beijing (China). He currently resides in Oxford (UK). David has a PhD in virology and works as an analytical scientist. During his post-graduate studies, he discovered the work of Pierre Cordier, the father of the chemigram. Motivated by the geometry and fine detail of Cordier’s work, David was inspired to explore this new means of artistic expression. In addition, David is an independent student of the nineteenth century Classical Realism course by Charles Bargue. David’s current work is an integration of experimental darkroom methods with the subject and aesthetic of Classical Realism. His chemigrams have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Johannesburg (South Africa), Pretoria (South Africa), London (UK) and Athens (Greece).

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