| Abstract | This paper examines the value and meaning of my painting process, which begins with the building of dioramas in the studio. Through visual analysis, I contextualize the importance of looking in my work, which is further supported by my interest in archiving photographic material. In Chapter II: The Need to Construct, I use the work of photorealist painter, Robert Bechtle, to contrast my methodology of searching for images with his, thus emphasizing the importance of the photograph as an object in my practice. This key aspect is further discussed in project Double Take, which utilizes my archive and brings forward questions of selective memory as well as what is made familiar and strange through the use of extreme vignettes. In Chapter III: Landscape and Belonging, I look at the landscape convention, how it influences the way I build dioramas, and consequently affects the way I paint them. Through the sky studies of John Constable, I question the role landscape plays in forming collective identity, and examine further how my constructed dioramas have become emblematic of the distance I feel towards my native landscape.
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