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STILL. (22 Paintings, Catalogue) Mitchell Library, Glasgow (2009); Union Gallery, Edinburgh (2011); Raab Gallery, Berlin (2011); Art Karlsruhe (2011).

Braham became interested in the philosophical question of whether paintings can possess ‘Punctum’: a psychological charge that ruptures the conscious mind of the viewer, inflicting a wound that foreshadows death? In ‘Camera Lucida’ Barthes determines that photographs induce ‘temporal hallucination’ because reality captured at the moment of exposure, when later viewed is perceived as time already passed, accompanied by the recognition that one’s own death is immanent.

This research explored whether an equivalent quality can extend to painting, taking account of phenomenological arguments identified by Merleau-Ponty in ‘Eye and Mind’, that personal experience, which moves the hand of the painter might directly touch the viewer too. Braham’s thesis is that Merleau-Ponty’s ‘touch’ is akin to Barthes’s ‘punctum’.

Braham asked ‘to what extent can personal experience translate into universal significance, and what are the visual triggers that facilitate that transference?’ Paintings were produced that incorporated this research to create works of disquieting presence. The test of whether these paintings might act as ‘lightening rods’ to memory was explored through exhibitions that invited feedback in the form of reviews, viewer statements, blogs, and email correspondence.

From 2009-12, Braham produced a series of 22 paintings collectively titled ‘STILL'. ‘The Churchyard’ initiated the series and was selected for the flagship visual arts event of the ‘Homecoming Scotland’ year of culture 2009, attracting 275,000 visitors. This was followed by a later solo exhibition at Union Gallery during the Edinburgh International Festival of 2011. A full-page preview was published in The Herald newspaper on 30/7/11. The exhibition travelled to Raab Gallery in Berlin in November 2011 and ‘Art Karlsruhe’ where 48,000 visitors attended in March 2012.

‘Still.’ Associated 44 page catalogue with 20 paintings reproduced in colour. Introductory text by Dr. Dominic Smith, Dept. of Philosophy, University of Dundee, (3500 words on 8 pages). ISBN 978-0-956781-0-3