The Journey towards Abstraction

Photography or what?

 

Remixer Two, Ink jet print, 36" by 65", 2008

Where does an image stop becoming a fine art photograph and start becoming a piece of graphic fine art?

Or I could ask, How do we get

from here,

                                                                                         

                                                                                            Darkland, 20 x 20, inkjet print, 2008

to here?                    

I'll try and explain!

Often when I'm working with post processing faze of photography, I begin to adhere to what I call the Cult of the Antique, and begin adding faux self-reflexive elements from old photographic processes that mimic noise and grunge of the analogue world.

I do this because it helps, in my opinion, combat the sterile perfection of the digital world that seems to surround us more and more each day.

                                            Darkland with Grunge, 20 x 20, inkjet print, 2008

     

And so while I embrace digital tools as merrily as child in the proverbial candy store, I sometimes temper these powerful processes with things that make the image feel more 'real' ,or at least, effected by the causality of real world forces, such as time,  wear and tare, and dirt.

Often when doing this I'll start to get ideas about graphic design and other manipulations that go beyond the normal photographic idiom. In this case Darkland with Grunge became a foundation element for Traverse. After adding the wonderful 'grunge' to Darkland, I proceeded to embed it even further into a varieties of textures and graphic elements, which, when combined with another image taken at the Getty Museum in L.A., became this wide format work of art  I call Traverse. Here is the point I believe the work of art stopped being just a photograph:

Traverse, Inkjet print, 20"x 62" 2008 

 (To see a larger version where you can scroll around on this go here. )  I like this piece, I really do, but I also see the wide aspect ratio as a possible liability in terms of display. So I  tried making it into two pieces that could be displayed together in separate frames, the right hand version looking like this:

 

So, at this point,   I became curious what would happen if I kept folding and manipulating the image. I broke the wider version of Traverse up into three overlapping files, rotated each of them into a vertical position.  Then I sectioned them off in areas roughly approximated by the golden mean and flipped those sections in the horizontal and vertical. Next,  I combined all three together in the same file, and added several more flips and then some circles. The circle elements were done by selecting a round section of the image rotating it 90 degrees.  Other areas had their density and gamma adjusted to steer the eye in the proper directions and then the color was manipulated as a last touch. in this case the whites were pushed towards yellow and the blacks were given a purplish tonality. And now we have entered, I think into the land of true abstraction. 

 

Remixer One, Ink jet print, 36" by 65", 2008

 

Remixer Two, is mostly a variation on this same process, with some more graphic overlays added on top. Hope you enjoyed this description of my journey from specific image to abstract imagery.

New Beginings

So first of all happy 2008 everyone

Second: I apologize for not being very active on this blog during the last bit of 2007 as some of you may know, I have been very active on my flickr sight. So much so that I have neglected this space. I'll be updating here about once a week (that's the plan) and then you might want to see my flickr sight for the day to day activity

 

Where are we going?

Is it just coincidence that I have been deeply immersed in philosophical thought here at the
beginning of the new year. I did not make a conscious effort to reconsider the state of the Universe and question our directions. But that seems to have bubbled up on my mind never the less. And as usual these questions often manifest for me in a visual form and then I articulate the meaning after the fact. So its an election year, for better or for worse, and lots of people will be making 'road trips' across our nation.  I'm thinking here in broader terms, and the word nation is meant to embrace the nation of our planet, our human species.  With issues of climate change, escalating world conflict, and economic strains, I feel we are at a crossroads in many ways. We must always ask the questions on our road trip, where are we going?, have we chosen the right road? Will we try to keep the tank full or just drive until we run out? Sometimes the act of asking the questions can be more important than the answers. So I invite all of you to exercise that activity humans are notoriously bad at: thinking Long term! Ask questions not just about where your life is going, but about where your grandchildren will be going.  These answers what ever they are will be of more value than to have never asked the questions in the first place.

And then enjoy the scenery!

Aeon

I am happy to be able to tell you that I have just been interviewed at humana maelstrom zine

 
I was asked a very interesting series of questions by  Hélène Deroubaix, who is a wonderful artist in her own write and and avid writer and blogger. Check out her site too. I very happy with the result of the interview and I think it gives some good insight into my creative process and thoughts.

 

In making this piece, which I call Acceptance, I had a chance to meditate on the amazing power of nature to be patient but make great changes. The rocks in this stream that feed into the Nooksack river in Mt. Baker National Forest, have been aged smooth over the millennia by the constant flow of water, a process almost unimaginable in human time scales. I had this vision of lion left in this stream and the piece came to fruition. Its easy to say after the fact that this about acceptance of the inevitable will of nature but also about how great changes will come if we are patient etc., but the truth is when I saw this stream the image of the stone lion in with the boulders just came like a vision or a dream. I am always thankful for these visions!

Autumn Aproaches: The mood is in the air.

This is one of my favorite times of year. Summer is waning but still gives a bit of its warmth. Winter is coming but to timid yet to spoil any fun. the result is this dreaming time between extremes. Good for hikes in the woods and lazing about in meadows full of pulsing crickets, and of course moonlight walks by the trees. And good for art too, at least for me this year. I'm getting ready for a show in California now, so don't think my blogs will be to long. But I'll try to give you some tidbits as I go.

 

Later That Evening  Archival inkjet print 24" x 24 "

Flickr Energy; Back to my blog

After a bit of a hiatus here, I'm finally posting again. I've been off on Flickr, setting up my account there and having an amazing experience with not only the art but the community of artists that exists there. It's given me a great boost of energy and I've been creating like crazy. Including this image below:

 

Epiphany in the Desert. Archival Inkjet print. 2007, 35" x 35"

 
The delirious burst of Goddess energy flashed for a moment beyond the horizon, turning the pilgrim to stone and then back to flesh again. In only an instant the Universe had changed.

I guess I'm a bit of a mystic at heart, but this image is also a homage to one of my favorite 19nth Century Artists, Odilon Redon. Do you know him? If not, your in for a treat. One of my most profound experiences in viewing art took place at the Redon room at the Musée d'Orsay, where his chromatic pastels float in a dark space like aquarium views into the most deliriously colorful world of art and imagination. (Don't miss this if you go to Paris) But despite his chromatic work, Redon also was master of  somber monotone etchings He had a strong mystical thread running throughout his work.

This art also reflects somewhat my sense of having received a great burst of energy  from flickr. I've met a lot of artists there  who freely use a lot of PS processing very effectively  and it has inspired me to push my process work even further. For a long time I felt like a voice in the wilderness with my Digital Art, and now more and more, their is a great acceptance that digital manipulation is just another tool, to be used––wisely or not––In the artists box of mediums. It's very exciting. Check out my Flickr photo-stream where you will find and even larger selection of my art than on this site. Cheers!

Symmetrical Wonders

New Digital Gallery added.

 

 

Wind tree Symmetry, Inkjet print, 2007

 

I don't know what it is about adding symmetry that galvanizes an image so. It must have to do with adding order to chaos. In some way adding the reverse mirror version of an image to itself gives a structure to images and tickles our sense of interest. At least it does mine anyway--as evidenced by the amount of symmetrical imagery in the new gallery. In some cases I'll do a double symmetry and flip the image both vertically and horizontally. This generates a kaleidoscopic effect. check out the new images and  and tell me your favorite.

Kalaloch Cosmos

 Still busy getting ready for glass class. I'll blog with a spontaneous poem today

 

In the vertical world of a scroll

Three strata

From top to Bottom

Super Rational Knowledge

Divine Earth

Liquid Dreams

All is connected