Seeing life through a tiny portal called a viewfinder, reminds me of looking through a keyhole, or peeking through the crack of an open door. When I capture a latent image in the camera, I feel invisible- like a magical spirit, preserving beautiful, social, and historic scenes of the world that are forever changing.
The photographic image has always interested me in terms of how the perspectives of an image change by viewing the same object in different ways and through various lenses. The definition of an image never stays the same. The play of depth of field, relative degree of focus are other factors are challenging when making a successful composition. The use of perspective, line, light, and shadow of an image or scene can be transformed into something ethereal, and spiritual. The juxtaposition of images and the varied perspectives often have a narrative element with a surreal energy. My goal is to create a tension and curiosity in the relationship of the images. This tension is meant to encourage one to evaluate one’s point of view, so one can grow.
In photography the selective method is paramount. The subtractive method is used to record images of our world, where in painting images are added. The use of negative space is as important in my design as the visual elements. There is a unique relationship between the image and the negative space. I love how quickly an image is created in photography. I can create five concepts in the medium of photo-based art, in the amount of time it takes to create one painting. Beginning as a painter, I always created surrealistic genres from my mind from subjects in the studio. So when I began in photography, I was fascinated with manipulating images at the start. Because of the handwork, painting with light, bleach and paint each ‘photographic painting’ as I term my work, is one of a kind.
Each work is a combination of the relationship of at least two images with textures and color. The mysterious relationships of the images create a curiosity, taking one to another place in time. I am always in search of a fresh new meaning even in mundane subjects. The images are left in black and white as in the dream process, and color is often added usually in the negative areas, as an emotional effect. I call each work a 'visual symphony' where each image is interesting in itself but the relationship of the images creates the real statement. "The otherness” is what I call the feeling when one dreams and one cannot touch or feel but is left with an often-indescribable mood. This indefinable, ephemeral mood is what I seek to express. Carl Jung contends,”…dreams although a movement backwards in thoughts affects one in real life progression.” Each ‘photographic painting’ I create represents a poetic interpretation of the dream state, the inexplicable abstract emotion or thought of the subconscious. Awakening, one is left with a feeling or mood that is often ambiguous and indefinable. The subject matter often changes, but this dream feeling- a soft, peaceful, floating energy and a sense of movement is always prevalent in my work.
Subject matter usually deals with the human physical and psychological issues of growth and change, ecological or social issues, usually with an optimistic slant.
Sometimes I write poetry, which inspires me to create a piece, and sometimes it happens in the reverse. Creating art and writing poetry about the concept of the particular work, has always been my best avenue of expression. When I read a poem that relates to one of my works, a phrase speaks a thousand words, and the viewer decides what it means. When I lecture, I prefer to read my poetry to explain the ideas and concepts in my artwork.
The ultimate goal is an inspiring message of peace, that exudes healing energy for the viewer, as well as for myself.
The Process
My favorite color is yellow. To me, yellow symbolizes growth, and energy. It is a difficult color to use, but I try to use it whenever possible. Other common colors in my work are purple, rose, burnt orange, teal blue, and mostly muted colors. I paint with water base color, which can be very saturated, imbued, opaque or pastel. It can be spattered on or painted creating an airbrushed feeling.
I spend hours in the darkroom, exposing the white fragile fiber paper, seeing the images only in my mind. I draw a very primitive pencil sketch as a blueprint. Ironically, the procedure is somewhat like abstract painting because the images are not totally predictable. In the next step, a clear liquid covers the paper, images begin appearing like magic! The images appear within seconds, like a beautiful mystery that never ceases to fascinate me. Each piece is hand printed and painted and is one of a kind, created in a unique series. It is impossible to do an edition, because each piece has handwork. The work on this web site has no computer use. The scale of my works range from 5” x 7” to 40” x 65”. The pieces are often created in a unique series of no more than four to six variations in the larger sizes and only two in the mural size. The final art is on fiber archival photographic paper. I paint with light in the darkroom, often adding visual textures with textured cloth, photograms and light. After the work is washed and dried, I sometimes paint with inks and draw with pencil. I term my work ‘photographic painting’ because of the handwork, painting with light, drawing and painting.
