My art in relationship to photography

Somehow along the way art that was photography based as acquired in classes at UTD crossed a line from reference photos to, man this is addictive and I take 1000’s of pictures and I don’t know enough and hmm… I need a new lens.

I took drawing concepts and we started off with a “lines in landscape” assignment. That is all it took. Since I am a graphic designer and work often with photos, to make art from photos seems like breathing. Next came mixed media, again my files are full of reference work. Silkscreen, yikes! Even oil painting and my obsession with the self portrait feeds this growing need to capture something more than… a face but also that emotion and personality of the person.

I started with self portraits to help me document like a diary my emotions in relation to catastrophic events surrounding the dissolution of a 25 year marriage. I can’t explain it except I was so out of touch with my emotions I had to see them through the camera. Being a playful person this lead to many other capturings of what I call my multiple personalities. I can say that these ladies helped me find myself and grow beyond the shadow of a person I was… made me laugh too.

Once I become comfortable with photographing myself and sometimes turning it into art I began to take other people’s picture with the same goal, to somehow capture more of them, as much of them as I can. Some have become art, some are waiting to become art.

As I prepare to take mixed media again I am primed to set this process in motion and see what happens next.

Ohio Photography Show

While visiting Dayton I decided to check out some local art. A new show opened at the Dayton Visual Arts Center featuring Ohio Photographers. I thought that would be a show of interest. The show was organized by the Massillon Museum of Art, a traveling exhibit called "In the Garden." 

The purpose of the  MVAC is to promote area artists through shows, arts talks and art auctions. They also help connect area artists with galleries and collector who are interested in contemporary art.  The space is small, one gallery room, still the art was generously displayed. 

I enjoyed the diversity of art presented; from platinum photography to archival inkjet on rice paper. The most unusual process was xray. The rice paper prints were my favorite because they resembled Japanese block prints. They were an unexpected find. 

Since the show was exhibited in a contemporary art setting I wasn't surprised to find some but not all of the work digitally manipulated. I thought the results, the brilliant color and painterly quality of the work justified the process. 

The subject matter followed along the of the shows title "In the Garden." Since I have never met a plant I did not like, in its entirety I enjoyed the exhibit.