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In Casual Simplicity was captured by seeing, feeling and observing in reflection and appreciation of small moments of everyday human existence as an act of slow observation and refusal to create and consume in the unreasonably fast ways that our capitalist culture demands. The series comprises ten digital images, then silkscreen printed using a CMYK four-layer technique. Working layer-by-layer with many opportunities for human error allowed printing to be intertwined with the conceptual thought behind the photographs. The series of images is a refusal to confirm the values of capitalism, both in the personal nature of the image and the way they were produced and then subsequently printed. 

In our consumer culture, slowing down or taking a break can be seen as a flaw or failure; it can be very unforgiving to the reality of human needs. When you’re burnt out, there is no time for grace, no pause; time keeps going, and you keep burning. Implementing strategies I use when feeling burnt out with a need to slow down and recuperate, the creation of the series was in refusal to succumb to the pressures of a fast-paced consumer culture. In those moments of feeling burnt out, I leaned into things that brought me joy, and it was through appreciation of the mundane, hidden small details and the relatively simple things that I would start to feel myself again. These practices are reflected in the series’ imagery through the mix of more abstract and obvious subject matter. The series of images is a refusal to confirm the values of capitalism; it is a personal reflection and redirection of my labour toward seeing, feeling and creating. The series borrows its title from Emily Dickinson’s poem, Simplicity. 

“How happy is the little Stone 

That rambles in the Road alone, 

And doesn’t care about Careers 

And Exigencies never fears 

Whose Coat of elemental Brown 

A passing Universe put on, 

And independent as the Sun 

Associates or glows alone, 

Fulfilling absolute Decree 

In casual simplicity”