S O M A

Soma is a visual ode to the wisdom of the human body. The word originates from Greek sōma — the body as distinct from the soul, mind or psyche (Oxford Dictionary).

We come into contact with the world through our bodies. The way we interpret our experience of external events is largely determined by the conscious and unconscious sensations we feel in our bodies.

Our bodies carry wisdom that is available to us if we choose to pay attention — they give signals, feelings, emotions, sensations, information that the conscious mind hasn’t caught up with yet. The body knows first. It’s through the increased somatic awareness that we access intuition, a richer spectrum of emotions and knowledge about how we really feel beyond the mind-based interpretation, which is subject to socio-cultural conditioning.

My intention is to invite the viewer to reflect on whether we can let go and be present with the phenomena of our bodies, to really feel what is here and what is moving without jumping to rationalising and labelling with the mind. The idea is to invite the viewer to bring awareness to their own somatic experience of engaging with the book — noticing what they feel when looking at the images, touching the texture of the paper, the cover, feeling the weight of the book in their hand.

Amelia Zadro (in the images) is my ex-partner. She has taught me a lot about the importance of being more present in my body, which has helped me live from a fuller embodied place and less from my mind. The images are used with her consent.

Soma is a visual ode to the wisdom of the human body. The word originates from Greek sōma — the body as distinct from the soul, mind or psyche (Oxford Dictionary).

We come into contact with the world through our bodies. The way we interpret our experience of external events is largely determined by the conscious and unconscious sensations we feel in our bodies.

Our bodies carry wisdom that is available to us if we choose to pay attention — they give signals, feelings, emotions, sensations, information that the conscious mind hasn’t caught up with yet. The body knows first. It’s through the increased somatic awareness that we access intuition, a richer spectrum of emotions and knowledge about how we really feel beyond the mind-based interpretation, which is subject to socio-cultural conditioning.

My intention is to invite the viewer to reflect on whether we can let go and be present with the phenomena of our bodies, to really feel what is here and what is moving without jumping to rationalising and labelling with the mind. The idea is to invite the viewer to bring awareness to their own somatic experience of engaging with the book — noticing what they feel when looking at the images, touching the texture of the paper, the cover, feeling the weight of the book in their hand.

Amelia Zadro (in the images) is my ex-partner. She has taught me a lot about the importance of being more present in my body, which has helped me live from a fuller embodied place and less from my mind. The images are used with her consent.