Flotsam, Jetsam and Lagan is a suite of photographic works generated from flood-damaged electronic waste encountered following flooding in Nishioka's hometown in Japan. Individual fragments and materials recovered from the aftermath are isolated against a dark field, retaining the sediment, damage and physical traces of the event.
Presented collectively, the images form an archive of objects transformed by the flood. Their original technological functions become difficult to identify, while physical damage, sediment and material traces remain visible. The work considers how an environmental event persists through matter and how photographic processes can translate those remnants into records of place and memory.
Presented in Quicken, The Engine Room, Wellington, 2020. Curated by Caroline McQuarrie and Jane Wilcox.