Cross & Ladder - JUNE 21st – August 1st , 2008 Handmade photo mosaics by Darren Smith


Ever since we as a species could comprehend our place in the world, we have looked upward and sought ways to transcend our lowly place. With both our spirit and our intellect, we have grasped for the unattainable realm of the heavens.

The cross is one of the most ancient symbols and has been used by many religions, often to signify the joining of the world (the horizontal line) with the divine (the vertical line). For Christians, the cross symbolizes the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, an act that opens the way for believers to follow him up to heaven.

As an example of human ingenuity, the ladder is equally ancient. We created ladders to reach new heights, providing a platform for building higher and higher. From that humble beginning, our inventions are now towering pinnacles of human will and technology. By looking within, we have discovered we are all made from one ladder: the double helix of our DNA.

In our race to the sky, the spiritual and the secular meet in the form of crosses and ladders, which share the same simple ingredients of vertical and horizontal beams. Although crosses and ladders both seek to elevate, their methods clash, representing the warring sides of our psyche: faith versus logic.

Religion and science are both methods of fragmenting reality – they apply a lens through which their believers see truth. I developed my mosaic technique to have my own way to fragment and remix reality, to be both mad scientist and god of my creations.

The technique: Over the past decade, I have developed a unique technique of creating mosaics by hand from my photographs. I shoot many photos of a scene, create a new composition with the prints, cut them into small pieces and glue them back together. The effect is like looking at the world through a broken mirror, where the fractured edges allow me to reshape and recreate the world.

All my mosaics are completely handmade, without any digital manipulation of the photographs. I only use materials specially designed for longevity: all the photos are printed on archival paper, the glue is designed for photographs, and the illustration board is acid-free.