EC Davies’s previous work has taken its inspiration from the simplest of everyday objects such as marbles, glitter, balls of wool, or the motion of a bird’s wing in flight. These otherwise mundane objects are then transformed, using a combination of digital video and animation techniques, into the alluring and magical visual environments of her single and multi-screen digital video and animated installations.

Davies focuses on the aesthetics and surface of the object and the notion of dynamic and mesmerising movement. Her video works convey objects in a permanent state of flux, the sensation of energy reinforced by the use of vivid colour or dramatic lighting. They are hypnotic meditations that suggest a sense of something about to happen – an expectation that is ultimately frustrated as objects constantly return to their starting place, confined by the boundaries of the screen.

‘Flatland’ features a two-screen video projection work developed as part of Davies’s recent project collaborating with scientists working in the field of nanotechnology at the Advanced Materials Research Institute at Newcastle’s Northumbria University. Using glass as source material, these samples have been examined under the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM); an instrument that delves beyond the world of lens-based visualisation to explore the furtive, intricately complex environments that the nanotechnological and surface engineering processes reveal. The AFM uses a cantilever, probe-like arm, not unlike a record stylus that traces over the surface contours of the sample, to reveal the nano-scale surface. These wire-frame line drawings are reproduced using graphic software and then animated. This work is a continuation of Davies’s explorations that make visible and audible the enigmatic elements of organic and manmade materials taken from their microscopic environments to a macroscopic context in architectural site-specific installations.

EC Davies biography