Sasha Raphael vom Dorp has been exhibiting his work since 1992. A practice that began with painting in oils has evolved into creating kinetic sculpture, photography and interactive multimedia installations. His current work employs a machine that he’s created allowing him see sound waves as they interact with sunlight and matter. His work has been featured on PBS and published in the New York Times. Having lived in Sweden, Mexico, Taiwan, the Philippines and Los Angeles, he’s returned home to Taos, New Mexico where he works and lives with his wife and four children.

Project Statement:
I’ve made this work to better know my place in the universe. Our ability to travel the cosmos being limited, I’ve built a machine in an attempt to observe elemental transactions. I’ve created a mechanical solution to what is a metaphysical problem, forcing basic elements of perception - sound, light, and matter - into a single frame.
These are photographs of sound encountering sunlight as seen through the medium of water.
On one hand, I’ve staged common phenomena and on the other hand I’ve captured tiny cataclysms never to be repeated. I bring you evidence of a minute history, in which no instance is petty and every instant too complex to perceive in its entirety.
A moment is all time, an atom the universe.

I aim to capture the beauty and turmoil that occurs inside the most pedestrian events. Sunlight bounces on water, sound waves march toward oblivion.

Sasha Raphael vom Dorp in collaboration with Sacha Riviere
20 Hz - Light
from the Sound Bending Light Series, 2017
High-speed capture experiential installation, ed. 1/3, 13:10min loop
Courtesy of the artist