The Martians are coming!

During her nocturnal explorations of rural Finland during her time in residence at Arteles, Mexican-Australian artist Sissy Reyes found herself surrounded by silence, landscapes and a melancholic feeling of presence reminiscent of childhood afternoons long past. Inspired by these moments, Reyes took her dream to experiment with long exposure photography in the magical twilight of the nordic skies to an interstellar dimension. ‘The Martians are coming!’ is an exploration of time, place and presence in today’s information-rich existence. As our everyday interactions become dominated by our dependancy on digital technology, we paradoxically alienate ourselves in our devices while trying to connect with others, yet ceasing to connect with the ‘here and now’ even when in complete solitude. Are we ever present? Through this premise and inspired by her love of SciFi and magic realism, Reyes sets out to depict reimagined moments of solitude and presence, celebrating them as rare an occasion as an encounter with an alien life form. The Martians then become the metaphor for the ’here and now’ and the feelings we allow ourselves in solitude. Featured in the online galleries of the UK's ‘FORMAT Festival 2017: Habitat’ and the international ‘Lens Culture Emerging talents Awards 2016’, and supported by the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Emerging artist Grant and the Arts NSW Artist Grant by the National Association for the Visual Arts, this cinematic series creates open ended narratives yet to be completed by the viewer, allowing them to share in the mysterious moment. A moment of clarity, melancholic gratitude, deep chested fear or joy perhaps. We exist here and now... and we know then, maybe just then... 'The Martians are coming!’