The Blue Room 2008

Cornelia Parker made this photograph, "The Blue Room," and it feels like she made it in the dark. The process seems to involve a kind of alchemy, transforming something familiar into something deeply strange. There's a texture to the darkness, a kind of grainy surface that almost feels like it could be lifted off the page. It’s not a smooth, impenetrable black, but rather a field of particles, each one catching the light in its own way. Then there's that eye – a pinpoint of eerie, almost toxic, blue-green that just stares right back at you. It’s unsettling, like something is looking back at you from another dimension. Parker's work often explores the idea of transformation and the potential for beauty, or terror, to be found in unexpected places. Think of Vija Celmins and her mezzotints of deep space, both artists using a dark palette to hint at the infinite. For me, that little blue eye keeps the whole thing alive with possibility.