Exhibition Opening – Stratosphere by Trevor Mein

While the subject matter of Trevor Mein’s architectural photography is firmly grounded on the earth, his latest project looks to the skies. stratosphere, the newest addition to his Cloud Atlas project, will be exhibited at Otomys Contemporary, opening October 26th, 2019.

The Cloud Atlas project created by Trevor Mein is a documentation of every conceivable formation of clouds, from the spectacular to the understated. His work captures the marvel of the phenomenon that continuously shifts and changes above the daily occurrences of human existence, preserving this dynamic and enigmatic interaction of water and atmosphere at one single, fleeting moment in time.

While traditionally the atlas, so named in the 16th century, gathers together a collection of maps denoting the physical characteristics of land, the Cloud Atlas is a record of another, more ephemeral aspect of our world. The word ‘atlas’ also holds an alternative, older meaning. In Ancient Greek mythology, the Titan Atlas was made to carry the heavens on his shoulders, the weight of this burden his punishment for leading the Titans in battle against the gods.

Cloud Atlas, thus, speaks to the relationship between sky and earth that is held within this etymology, encouraging a perspective beyond our typical anthropocentric, grounded world view. As human life becomes increasingly threatened by the impact that our actions are having on the atmosphere, broadening this limited perspective becomes all the more critical.

Capturing the subtleties and the intensities, the raw power and poignant beauty of weather extremes, stratosphere is the latest refinement of the Cloud Atlas exploration, traversing a palette that ranges from blue, grey and white to violet, saffron and black. Painterly graduations of colour create an astonishing variety of forms and textures. At once familiar yet abstract, each image draws the viewer in, prompting one to consider the duality between earth and sky, concrete and ephemeral, nature and human.

stratosphere opens on Saturday, October 26th, 2019 from 10am – 2pm at Otomys Contemporary in Abbotsford, Melbourne. The exhibition will close on Friday, November 8th at 5pm.