Type Abstraction: Ocular Migraine (Series)

The premises of my artwork is in the construction and adaptation of a visual impediment that I undergo prior to the development of a migraine; known as an ocular migraine, or ‘visual aura’. I felt it important to further the expression of this relatively rare phenomenon when given a brief surrounding sight, as this experience has always been one which has proven to be beyond spoken language. My approach to the inclusion of type in this piece was through abstraction and processing of a very structured letterform. The intention was to render and exhaust the letter ‘o’ of the Avenir typeface to such an extent that by the end of the visual narrative, it can no longer be thought to have belonged to a system of lettering. I’ve made an attempt to accommodate a sense of motion in the visual narrative as though through my own eyes I have framed a moment in time during the evolution of the aura and its perplexing path/pattern.