JW TOFTNESS
To Redecorate a Dream

A core concern of this series of photos, titled “To Redecorate a Dream,” is our materiality in the face of dematerialization via technological advances. “To Redecorate a Dream” explores the psychological, even ontological, divide we appear to construct between digital space and tangible reality.
To convey this entanglement of virtual and visceral, the main sculptural pieces featured in the project serve as critical links between process and concept. I construct them using a basic, pulpy artistic material—papier-mâché—and the final works act in conjunction with, and counterpoint to, the advanced tools of a digital photography workflow.
I utilize color theory and take inspiration from visual culture. Specific instances of inspiration drawn range from Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam to Jean Baudrillard’s photographs to the default background for the Windows XP operating system, and claimed to be the most viewed photograph in history.

Author
JW Toftness (b. 1984) focuses on human relationships with technology and on slippages between perceived and mediated realities. Toftness incorporates imagery from various nodes of visual culture, embedding in his works a critique of how image ecologies shape our experience. Based in Savannah, GA, he is a featured artist in "New South, Volume 2: Double Vision" (Atlanta Center for Photography, 2025). His work was recently exhibited in UnBound14! at Candela Books + Gallery in Richmond, VA, and in other group shows at: Atlanta Photography Group, Atlanta, GA; Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, Providence, RI; Oregon Contemporary, Portland, OR; and ATHICA, Athens, GA. His first solo exhibition will be at Cleo the Project Space in Savannah, December 2025.

Website
jamestoftness.com

Instagram
@jwtoftness

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