Simon reached out to photographer friends, to share with him select images from their archives. Requesting only images that somehow relate to memory; images that had personal significance to them. He provided no limits for what they shared and asked them to not specify any background or context to these images. Used as a strategy to project ideas of what Simon knows versus assumptions that he makes of the images, where these opposing ideas are scrutinised. And to remove his subjectivity from choosing what to paint.
By subjecting these images to a latency unfamiliar to photography, reference images are painted over extended periods of time, allowing personal and often fragmentary memories emerge in the paint and surface, and repeat across multiple works.
‘Personal Histories’ embodies these sensations of change and probes the complicated relationship between presence and representation. Raising the question: How do people grapple with their own histories in the current state of image and information saturation that spans across social sharing, culture and artificial news?
