University Work
with artist statements
In the Leaves
I have sought a visual expression of mystical stillness, or silence. I'm not trying to describe a kind of peace that is always void of conflict, but a peace that is in spite of or in the midst of other factors. For me, vegetation stands as a kind of archetype of transcendence that is a force of life itself and so I focused on this world and the visual experience it offers.
Intrusions
In many areas around the country, and indeed the world, there seems to be a collision between the rural, less tamed land and the many human interventions on the landscape. Miniature frontiers appear as lawns and asphalt take the place of wild grass and houses materialize on former farmland. For the most part, we seem to have failed to find or even look for meaningful ways to integrate ourselves and our constructions into the land in such a way that is utilitarian but also connected and soulful. I've attempted to show this imposition onto the landscape, but not in an overt manner. At the same time, I mean to show a certain integration between the two, perhaps as a bit of hopeful thinking.
When Was I Less
The soul seeks death as it lives. -James Hillman
I've found that with the right processes, digital images experience decay. This decay is necessary to strip away the normal sanitary feel of the digital photo. In colliding two disparate images I'm hoping to introduce a temporary interruption of normal logical thought: bringing together the unrelated so that there can be relation to the death experience. Animals can be a way of connecting to something deep within our nature and so I show them at their end as a way of stimulating a chthonic perspective. My images are about imagining the death experience, not as some literal end, but as a necessary ingredient to life itself. Landscape frequently appears in my dreams and I constantly look for waking experiences of new landscapes. There is something in the psyche that values terrain, landscape, and earth: its harshness, softness, and infinite rearrangements of space. We are always somehow connected to it, driving, walking, or flying. Our imagination of it is often of its place in journey and visitation and how we are integrated into it, but as much as it is an external phenomena it has its own interiority.
Within a life, there are death experiences. Death is often related to through fear and apprehension but perhaps the soul seeks death experiences so that it can live more fully. The instinctual, animal-like self looks for necessary experiences which can bring about individuation and dissolution of the false.
I've found that with the right processes, digital images experience decay. This decay is necessary to strip away the normal sanitary feel of the digital photo. In colliding two disparate images I'm hoping to introduce a temporary interruption of normal logical thought: bringing together the unrelated so that there can be relation to the death experience. Animals can be a way of connecting to something deep within our nature and so I show them at their end as a way of stimulating a chthonic perspective. My images are about imagining the death experience, not as some literal end, but as a necessary ingredient to life itself. Landscape frequently appears in my dreams and I constantly look for waking experiences of new landscapes. There is something in the psyche that values terrain, landscape, and earth: its harshness, softness, and infinite rearrangements of space. We are always somehow connected to it, driving, walking, or flying. Our imagination of it is often of its place in journey and visitation and how we are integrated into it, but as much as it is an external phenomena it has its own interiority.
Within a life, there are death experiences. Death is often related to through fear and apprehension but perhaps the soul seeks death experiences so that it can live more fully. The instinctual, animal-like self looks for necessary experiences which can bring about individuation and dissolution of the false.
As Much as a Pen Knows
I experience a certain amount of sadness when I visit the West. I see new developments and human progress fighting the rugged land and the natural erosion of the earth reminds me of every thing's ultimate transience. The feminine world soul becomes ever more obscured under the harsh light of modern thought and so I try to remember her through my images. I wonder what ghosts haunt the land and how we might get to know them.
