Stuck Inside

 Added to March 28, 2017
Mar 282017
 

I began with the idea of a “bubble” but felt that word had too many silly connotations tied to it. I wanted something darker. Something more difficult to deal with. I then reduced or simplified my definition of “bubble” into being a thin semipermeable layer that divides space… In my studio a large thin plastic sheet was hung from wall to wall and I began making photographs of myself coming through. In this image I pushed a little too hard and the plastic began to fall down, but the contrast of the wrinkles along with my body posture really struck me as something worth keeping.

Symmetry Painting 1

 Added to March 24, 2017
Mar 242017
 

I have been working with paint a lot lately. I wanted to find something that allowed me to use my hands more in the process, which definitely lacks in photography or digital art… I am exploring chance, mistakes and happy accidents. Perception, vision, abstraction. Many of them (like this one) are semi-symmetric with layers upon layers of rectangles over one another – with different colors, different textures – creating depth and transparency. Most of the time in my studio, instead of painting, I end up staring into the center of them deciding if they feel right to me.

Quotes: Alan Watts

 Added to March 23, 2017
Mar 232017
 

Sunset Quotes: Alan Watts

“To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don’t grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.” – It is such a simple lesson, so easily understood, but so very incredibly hard to apply to our lives. The main goal of Buddhism is to lessen suffering, and much of this suffering is brought on by our clinging to ideas, people, or things. I do this all the time… It is very difficult, but sometimes you do have to just have faith that things will work out. Of course it is not a bad idea to move around a little, and tread that water.

The Breakfast

 Added to March 5, 2017
Mar 052017
 

In taking on the theme “breakfast” I wanted to speak of overabundance and hierarchy of class. I went out and bought a bunch of bagels, doughnuts, muffins and all kinds of foods (which I later gave to my coworkers in an attempt not fill myself with junk). I then arranged some nice tableware and moved them even tighter into the frame in post. I like how the final image is very simple and ordinary, and yet the abundance creates a touch of surrealism, which the black and white helps with, I think.

Inspire: Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison

 Added to March 3, 2017
Mar 032017
 

Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison, “The Source”, 2004

Many who know me know that my all time favorite photographers are the ParkeHarrison’s. They inspired me to create my early works and continue to blow my mind… This husband and wife duo doesn’t simply TAKE photographs – anyone can do that – instead they create scenes that tell surreal narratives through a combination of sculpture, performance, and using each other as models. Much of their work, especially earlier like in the series Architect’s Brother, seems to do with man interacting and working with his landscape. A character is cleaning up nature, fixing things, and exploring his desolate surroundings. Their new work is quite different and quite mesmerizing as well. Colorful, mysterious, with a hint of confusion or dismay. They create true visual poetry. See more at http://www.parkeharrison.com/

Smoke Ritual

 Added to March 1, 2017
Mar 012017
 

Sometimes the unplanned just works itself out… A few years ago I bought a fog machine knowing it would make for some good art, at some point, but never really used it. I set it up against a black wall with a snoot speedlight just above it to catch the smoke. I had no other plans until I saw part of a dead plant I had picked in the garden a year beforehand – again thinking “this will make good art someday”. I held the plant at the smoke and made this image. It was actually shot as a horizontal and rotated 90 degrees in post for effect… I see it as some kind of ritual.

The Dreaming State