In his solo debut at envoy enterprises, Sky Lines, James Holland presents a series of self-made constellations. A personal reinterpretation of the urban landscape, the photographs turn city lights into stars, conjuring notions of memory, destiny and fate.

Growing up under city lights, Holland’s fascination with the urban sky stems from a repressed desire to stargaze. Without the opportunity to see natural constellations, he would link streetlights together in his mind, turning an ordinary view into something fantastical. Holland’s visual obsession reflects a more universal impulse to “find our stars” and by extension our place on this planet. Creating a tension between chance and choice, the series presents a contradictory impulse to discover our destiny “written in the stars” while simultaneously drawing our own paths.

Critical to the conceptual focus of the project, the process was determined by a series of tests, aiming to create the constellations on location. In order to connect the “stars” he shoots through a piece of glass clamped in front of the camera, which has been marked while looking through the lens and then illuminated with filtered light. In this way, the artist draws the constellations himself, personalizing every photograph with evidence of his hand. Each composition includes a deliberate balance of staged and accidental elements, creating a pure aesthetic that is profound in its quiet contemplation of destiny. Through this visual game, the viewer is invited to reconsider the urban landscape and his/her place in it.

James Holland holds a degree from Rhode Island School of Design and works predominately in film and photography. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn.