SURFACE explores the need for a physical point of gravity reference - the floor - for the viewer to be able to understand movement. A parallel can be established with non-physical elements, such as emotions or thoughts, where these only have meaning when related to a point of reference.

Photographed 2008-2011

Dancers: Laura Caldaw, Emma Brunton, Amber Hunt, Sara Lindstrom, Diana Slingsby and Rachel Martin

Styling: Melanie Broader and Kevin Kim

These surfaces, physical or emotional, create a protective layer for both the observer and the observed. The viewer needs to visual comfort of a surface to be able to understand the dynamic and expression of movement. A parallel can be made with human relationships where a need for a supporting surface is necessary for understanding and processing feelings and emotions.

To challenge this relationship to a physical point of gravity, a water surface is used as the 'floor' - allowing for a 'moving' point of reference, exploring what happens to that need. Dancers were asked to submerge and, up-side-down, use the water surface as if it was a dance floor.