Conceptual Still Life Photography — Delaney Allen’s Inner World of Enchanting Imageries

Delaney Allen’s visuals are a collection of mystical natural landscapes and enigmatic self-portraits. With the aim of depicting life’s odd moments, he renders dramatic scenes which involves himself posing in costumes or framing nature in a poetic narrative.

The Texas born, Portland based artist lists Dutch still life, Cubism, Dada, and Surrealism movements, among his many inspirations. His work is a mixture of still life images, mixing physical and digital manipulation to convey his personal vision on his travels. “I’m constantly traveling, seeking out isolation, confusion, and beauty”. Allen’s imagery is the consequence of his introspection. For the viewer, the experience is akin to accidentally stumbling upon his creative process.

In his most recent collection of photographs and objects, ARTIFACT Allen blurs the line between reality and surrealism. He incorporates and then erases his portraits, making it less obvious for the viewer to understand the facts in his photographs. Rather, the viewer is invited to interpret the fiction and dive into the author’s imagination, contemplating the beauty and the oddity of the world. He uses self-portrait in an unconventional manner to insist on the fact that to him, self-portraiture is a “truer form of individual art-making.” Constantly hiding under layers of fabric, masks and collaging other faces; extending the narrative by creating a sense of oniric confusion.

–words by Tamara Akcay