I work with stratified surfaces that hold multiple layers of time, material, and perception. By constructing and excavating layers so that what lies beneath remains partially visible, my practice explores depth fields, where different temporal moments coexist and the surface becomes a site rather than an image. Through Acts of Attention - repetitions of mark-making, visual studies of surfaces, and explorations of their front, back, and in-between - I focus on how materials store tension, memory, and duration, creating visual fields that are quiet, spatial, and structurally complex.

Depth fields describe artworks built as layered spatial systems rather than single-plane images. They hold multiple perceptual, material, and temporal layers simultaneously, allowing viewers to move through the surface rather than simply look at it.

Processes of addition and removal - layering, scratching, cutting back, or partially exposing earlier stages - reveal the internal architecture of the piece, giving the surface a sense of duration, history, and internal tension. What emerges is not a fixed image but a field of relations: light, texture, density, and trace interacting across time.

A depth field typically involves:

• Stratification: multiple physical layers (paint, plaster, ground, residue) that remain partially visible.

• Temporal stacking: evidence of different stages of making visible at once.

• Perceptual multiplicity: surfaces that can be read in multiple ways depending on proximity, angle, or light.

• Revelation through excavation: techniques such as burning, piercing, scratching, abrading, and re-exposing underlayers to reveal normally hidden structures.

In spatial terms, depth fields create an environment rather than a picture plane. They position the viewer in relation to a layered site, where meaning accumulates through movement, proximity, and repeated looking. The works are less about representation than about spatial thinking - the experience of encountering depth held within material form.

Camilla Howalt