Rose 1982 - 1991

This is 'Rose' by Doug and Mike Starn, and it looks like it's made from torn pieces of photographic paper, taped and pinned together. The colour is sepia, like an old memory. I’m interested in the way the artists have embraced process here. The surface is all texture and fragments, it’s like a collage but with photographic material. You can see the tape holding the pieces together, and the way the light catches on the glossy surface of the image. The pins in the corners are almost brutal, yet they hold the whole thing together. Look closely, near the top left corner, and you can see how the paper curls up, creating a shadow that adds depth to the piece. This little imperfection is actually perfect. It’s a bit like the work of David Hockney, with his photo collages, or even some of Gerhard Richter's blurred paintings, but the Starns are really doing their own thing, they show us the beauty in brokenness and the power of putting things back together. It feels like there is no correct interpretation, and that’s really exciting.