Gone I~VII

Gone IV

Hand-inscribed photograph
111x148cm (image), 121x158cm (with border)

The photographs of the series Gone, all unique prints, capture the phenomenon of the dissemination of light when the camera malfunctions. Taken in Brisbane, Australia, with a camera with a broken lens, the photographs show an accidental beauty that results when relieved from the need to control perception. Charwei Tsai inscribed a mantra, found at the end of the Heart Sutra, a text that has become a motif in the artist’s work, onto the diffusion of light. This mantra is often recited orally, almost like a spell, or presented visually in mandalas as an aid to move forward, to be freed from attachments.