In Dark Light, photographer Kathryn Thomas investigates the gap between imagination and reality, and the vault of the unconscious.

"Kathryn Thomas’s photographs…plumb the simplest of scenes…Somehow she finds hidden, meditative agendas that draw the viewer back more than once." Robert McFarlane, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 February 2004.

Like many children, Thomas went through a phase of fearing the dark and letting her imagination run wild; wondering what was really in those spaces not illuminated by the nightlight.
In her debut solo show, she explores the idea that these experiences and memories never really disappear, and become part of the unconscious mind when we become too ‘old’ or ‘mature’ to indulge in fantasy.
She is fascinated by how this remanence shapes our adult lives in ways generally unknown to us.

Dark Light provides a context in which to consider our own reactions to the darkness.
There is an old suggestion that ‘daylight brings relief’ but here the long night is yet to pass - there is darkness looming, not light breaking. Time creeps and the viewer is alone.

Thomas was born in Adelaide in 1977 and lives in Sydney. She has previously exhibited at Point Light Gallery in Surry Hills, where she also studied photography with Gordon Undy, Murray Fredericks and Bruce Hart.
Thomas was recently represented in the group show Schatz as part of the Sydney Esquisse, curated by Jay Ryves.

Thomas is active in the local Sydney music scene and for the past five years has photographed live performances, which is where she first explored her attraction to available light photography.
She has photographed a number of artists including Bertie Blackman (MGM), Mike Nock’s Big Small Band (ABC Classics), Triosk (~scape and Leaf), Ends & Means and Matt Keegan Trio (Jazzgroove Records/Creative Vibes).