The Closer it Gets by Morar Vlad

from BA Photography · Looking for Missing Pieces · Graduate Publication 2022

The Impulsive Rambling That Focuses My Mind by Daniel Witchell

The Closer it Gets

Morar Vlad

The Closer it Gets is a long-term body of work that evokes the myth of Icarus and, more specifically, the Icarus of Edward Field’s (1963) eponymous poem. Images from the island of Ikaria are combined with studio-based portraiture to enhance the mythical feel of these scenes.

Using historical artworks such as Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (c.1560) by Pieter Bruegel and a contemporary overexposed and oversaturated aesthetic, this modern interpretation of the myth springs to life with less didactic purpose. Myths are meant to teach us basic lessons about our human condition and showcase either a way to overcome it or reasons why our behaviour is not practical. Likewise, these images direct the viewers’ attention to contemporary notions of what might constitute hubris or ambition. But instead of being used as a warning it aims at something much more speculative. It becomes something new. Getting your wings burned trying is better than looking up and wondering what could have been.