(Dis)connected at Sea
By Emma Hicken
Artist Bio
Emma Hicken is a Fremantle based photographer. Emma's work spans a wide range of subjects, from intimate portraits of people and animals to conceptual and abstract compositions. She thrives on exploring the nuances of human emotion and the intricacies of the natural world, capturing moments that provoke thought and invite reflection. Her passion for the obscure allows her to experiment with unconventional ideas, creating striking visuals that challenge the viewer’s perspective.
Artist Statement / Description of artwork
(Dis)connected delves into a paradox of our times: while technology has woven us into an ever-tightening web of connectivity, it often leaves us feeling strangely isolated from the world around us. This project seeks to resonate with viewers who, despite being constantly digitally connected, often find themselves yearning to reconnect to nature without screens and devices. The vintage phone is more than just a symbol of communication; it is an emblem of a bygone era and a reminder of how far technology has come and what we've left behind. By situating the phones in environments where they don’t belong, the images create a visual dissonance that mirrors our contemporary experience. The absurdity of seeing a vintage phone in an unrelated context underscores the estrangement many of us feel in our technology saturated lives. I hope to spark a moment of pause, a space for viewers to reconsider how technology shapes their sense of place in the world.