I’ve had thoughts about using ribbons in my art for a while now.

There’s a narrative aspect: a robotic pop star that integrates itself into the network of machines in a studio hall. These internet connections seen as colored lines, connecting it to cameras, stage lights, mechanical backup dancers… Information traveling over waves of light (synesthesia once more).

There’s also a curious folklore aspect of threads:

• China has the red thread of fate (or marriage).

• Ancient Greece featured the Moirai taking care of one’s life thread.

And, I would be remiss to not mention the most prominent memory I have of ribbons: Sailor Moon.

Common in shoujo, ribbons act as a symbol of girlhood and femininity.

So, given all that, how should I go about integrating them into my work? And I did consider following my initial gut: wrapping myself up in multicolored threads.

But, that image from childhood… The lines extending out to the edges of the frame… Perspective lines extending from the subject to envelop the viewer…

It’s hard to articulate how impactful studying drawing has been on my photography work. Knowing how things like foreshortening work in drawing has really changed how I treat the picture plane my camera captures.

Creating compositions rather than just capturing them.