Like Breath on Glass

“Like Breath on Glass” is an ongoing investigation between memory and transitory states of being through the study of clouds, their ephemeral movement and form, and their transformation through the passage of time. I am keenly interested in the natural world, the cycles of life in landscape, and the way in which nature often reveals metaphors for the human condition- fear, joy, anguish, hope, humility, fragility.

The series is made up of composite images of clouds, either repeated or combined, to translate my perception and memory of both their physical and metaphysical presence. These photographic images, taken over decades, have been rendered in several mediums including canvas with oil, transparent soft plexiglass, archival dye sublimation on aluminum, and smooth 100@ cotton rag paper. “Cloud Study 1” is now being offered for the first time in an exclusive special edition series for collectors through Klompching Editions at the Klompching Gallery in Brooklyn, New York.

This series was inspired by a little-known American art genre from the later part of the 19th century occurring around the same time that photography was becoming more popular. Painting softly, an understudied yet important aspect of American art aesthetic, first emerged on the American art scene in the 1870’s through works by several important artists, including Whistler, George Inness, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, John Twachtman, and Edward Steichen.

Through an innovative manner of handling paint, this group of American artists created deceptively simple canvases that conveyed images of shimmering transience, visions suggested rather than delineated subjects. As I learned more about this genre, I found an immediate kinship with this small group of artists and our shared intention to create a poetic representation rather than a literal one.

Later revived in the 1950’s and 1960’ by many artists and writers, creating the appearance of “effortlessness” was experimented with in both materials and techniques, prompted by a variety of topics and motives from technical, social, religious, and scientific.

Nowhere But Here

“Nowhere But Here” is an inquiry into memory, the passage of time, and space viewed through the visual language of collage, painting, and photography.

In this new multilayered series, memory is transformed into images reflecting moments suspended in time referencing both representation and abstraction inexorably intertwined with fragments of 100 year old papers, distemper, graphite, marble dust; modern day technology meets renaissance materials to form a catalytic effect on the overall finished image.

These “collage” type compositions are transient in their formation reflecting my interests in the ephemeral nature of memory, the relationship between the past and the present, and exploring ways to reconcile the two on a sensory level. Purposely handled in a “scrap book" analog fashion, these images emphasize the malleable state of memory, the process of recall and reconstruction, and the imperfections inherently found between the two.

Forgive * Forget

Forgive * Forget is an inquiry into memory and the passage of time viewed through the visual language of collage. In this new multilayered series, memory is transformed into objects and symbols made up of staged unfixed compositions created with vintage book pages, natural and vintage objects, found photography, and carmeraless photograms.

These “collage” type compositions are transient in their formation reflecting my interests in memory and the relationship between the past and the present and exploring ways to reconcile the two on a sensory level. Purposely handled in a “scrap book" analog fashion, these images emphasize the ephemeral and malleable nature of memory, the process of recall and reconstruction, and the imperfections inherently found between the two.

Wish You Were Here

Wish You Were Here is an inquiry into memory and the passage of time combining several types of photographic images- vintage photos, 19th c. glass plates, lumen photographs, into one digital collage. Evidence of time appears in each image with the deterioration and age occurring in the chemistry of the 19th century glass plates.

These composite images are “collage” type compositions reflecting my interest in memory and the relationship between the past and the present, exploring ways to reconcile the two on a sensory level. The images are purposely handled in a “scrap book" analog fashion, emphasizing the physical nature of memory and all its imperfections.

Time and Again

This series is a collection of photography captured over the course of the Covid-19 “shut-down” year. Each photograph tells a story of memory, humanity, and a sense of being. Some images are captured at locations visited throughout my life, others are creations of my imagination. Each image encapsulates the feeling of a place, time, and memory either dreamed or remembered.

These photographs invite you to pause, to breath. They are windows to a moment in time and in space, through different perspectives and perceptions.

This collection is particularly influenced by nature; the motifs of air and water run throughout. Even in the most reductive and abstract images, there is an organic living line. Finding the balance between abstraction and figuration is what I am pursuing, with thought put into capturing each shape and shadow. In these tumultuous times this work is meant to be a comforting anecdote to our uncertainty.

The images in this series combine photography with digital image processing, working with multiple layers of photographs to form a composite final image, capturing the concept of time and mirroring the method of a painter working from multiple sketches.

Truth Be Told

For my series Truth Be Told, I am continuing with the theme of memory, exploring the intersection between the photographic image and what can be real or imagined, joining these ideas in a new visual context. Within our media-immersed lives, the object of a photograph, once thought of as “evidence,” has been continually challenged by technology, and what was once considered a visual representation of the truth is now a malleable resource much like memory.

For this series I chose random photos from my iPhone presenting a provable record of a specific moment in time that I had directly experienced. Each image in the series is archivally printed over vintage pages taken from books of fiction, juxtaposing the past and the present, romance and reality, fact and fiction. The images are titled with a corresponding alphabetic format, referring to the elementary way in which learning begins with objects, associations, and memory. Inscribed en verso, these titles- a "real-time" chronology documenting the date and time of the photograph are accompanied by the corresponding alpha letter and word identifying the subject in the image.

“The pictures will not go away,” Susan Sontag wrote. “That is the nature of the digital world in which we live … Up to then, there had been only words, which are easier to cover up in our age of infinite digital self-reproduction and self-dissemination, and so much easier to forget.”

When I paired the two opposing ideas of fact and fiction, the photos with text revealed dynamic nuances that were unfamiliar to me although they were my own memories, and I knew I had to explore this contrast further; When I wasn’t finding answers, but more questions, I had to continue exploring this uncharted path.

Remembering the Twilight

My recent work expands an ongoing investigation of the interaction of memory, the passage of time, a sense of place, and of identity. I am keenly interested in how memory forms our sense of being and how that can be affected by the contradictions that the past and the present pose.

As a visual artist, I have found the qualities of photography, darkroom and digital manipulation, and the malleability of fine art materials- paint, paper, pencil, to be uniquely sympathetic to this search. They allow me to intercede in the moment that a fixed image presents, juxtaposing within it a deeply subjective view of reality, formed in the shadow of remembrance.

In this series, I am reaching back to my Irish ancestry and exploring relationships between memory and the natural world. The poem, “Into the Twilight” by WB Yeats was my inspiration and conduit to connect to another time.

Written in 1899, “Into The Twilight” conveys Yeats’ belief that the tumultuous dark times that had come over Ireland were leading the people toward an age of enlightenment. “The Twilight” as he referred to, is the magical, mystical energy of nature. He believed the natural world would heal all of man’s wounds.

Through the use of materials- Darkroom silver gelatin photographs, acetone, vintage papers, oil paint and pencil, each piece reflects a stanza in the poem and refers to nature and beauty with an empathetic theme. I am interested in the ever-changing flux in nature and memory- The ephemeral state of both, and the visual metaphor that they create.

A Time Not Mine

The series, “A Time Not Mine”, is an ongoing investigation between memory, the passage of time, and the ephemeral state of nature through the study of the Yosemite landscape. I am keenly interested in observing the natural world, the transitory cycles of life in landscape, and the way in which nature often reveals metaphors for the human condition- fear, joy, anguish, hope, humility, fragility.

The images in this series are made up of composites created by combining 19th century glass photograph plates and my own analog photography. The final single image conveys three different perspectives of time- The past, the present, and memory.

This series was inspired by my abiding interest in Yosemite and the journals of the explorer and naturalist, John Muir, who wrote extensively about his time there between 1868 and 1876. Muir’s observations poetically describe Yosemite like intimate conversations with the wilderness, sketching and noting the smallest of details in his prolific journals now archived at the University of the Pacific Holt-Atherton Special Collections and Archives. Along with Muir, I am seeking to capture both the physical and metaphysical presence of the landscape as well.