Biography

00001_DSC_0332.jpg

I am a visual artist.

What matters to me most is color, composition and light. My photography satisfies my innate need to discover and to conceive beauty. Creating images is as integral to my everyday life as breathing. My art is a part of me, it is what I do, it is what I live for.

My work is based on a way of seeing as opposed to a preference for a certain subject and I find beauty that makes sense to my vision everywhere and in everything. I employ all that I’ve learned through a lifetime of absorbing visuals to all subjects that catch my eye whether it be landscapes, still lifes, urban images, portraits etc., but my tendency is to lean towards abstract compositions and nature.

Continually searching for a way to blur the lines between photography, painting and sculpture is essential for me. I strive to evolve and move my images closer to painting. At the same time, I follow the canons learned from classic large format B&W photography at university. I rarely crop, almost never manipulate images and always previsualize the end result. However, I like to break the rules in the process, playing with lenses , shooting in low light, experimenting with movement.

Since childhood, I have always examined things close up. Being fortunate to be brought up in an environment that afforded me both natural and man-made objects to study, I became fascinated with how these objects relate to each other, how light and shadow sculpt all they touch, how light can be soft or dazzling in symphony with color. I started creating macro compositions from all kinds of found objects, arranging them in harmony with the existing light and color. I did not have a camera to capture what I had created but these experiments were an important part of my visual education.

Of the many influences in my life, I think art history, fashion photography, film, Japanese art and design, gardening and large format landscape photography are at the top. Traveling has influenced me greatly. I have seen many of the great museums of the world, been to fantastic cities, but for me, the road trip through the unfamiliar countryside in all kinds of weather is where I often gather inspiration. Volunteering, by creating an art/photography program for 8th graders has really made an impact on my art by allowing me to go back to seeing through the eyes of a child. Additionally, artists and art movements: Nicolas de Stael, Gerhart Richter, Willem de Kooning, Aaron Siskind, Brett Weston, Abstract Expressionism, Impressionism, Fauvism, Flemish art, Neoclassicism, Pompeian/Roman wall painting and so much more.

These days, I create, in my studio, small luminescent constructions made from tesserae of broken glass, plastics, candy, ribbons, metal remnants, small containers of colored liquid and other miniscule found objects that interest me. I photograph through these objects, bouncing color into the assemblage with colored papers and glass. Often, I add paint, ink, charcoal or pastels.

When not in the studio you will find me in the local woods or in my garden, taking a macro view, capturing the intersection of composition, color and light in all kinds of weather. I love the fog, the snow, the rain, the low light, the sunrise. Traveling and exploring new vistas is essential, it allows me to work out and employ techniques that I have developed over the years and to continue to evolve my vision.