Mum by Nicole Voevodin-Cash

This portrait of the artist’s 97 year old mother was made shortly before she passed away and is a deeply personal work for Nicole Voevodin-Cash. The out of focus and blurred passages of the artwork create a sense of another world, as if the sitter co-exists between two realms.

The portrait has been created using a hand held digital scanner, capturing the image of Heather Voevodin as she leans against a frosted glass door. The image is transferred to a device, mininally enhanced, and printed.

“This portrait is untouched and raw, in showcasing my mothers presence, mood, and truth in a way distinct from standard photography. Woven through the lens of a handheld scanner, my portrait unravels the textured tapestry of a life.”

Voevodin-Cash says this technique “…captures the rich engagements and serendipitous layers that make the unseen visible. In this unfiltered process, the nuances of movement and light become “digital dirt” adding an unexpected beauty.”

There is a haunting feeling in this work with the face and arm of the artist’s mother emerging from the light. “There is a ghostly halo the scan creates as it refracts the light around the image. ..this light washing in like water as though it was washing her away.”