My artistic pursuit for the past 25 years has been from techniques in photographic film, both 35 mm and medium format, then transitioning further into the digital age. This mimics the past history of photography evolving from wet plate to film, and then the introduction of the Kodak Brownie camera. From a social aspect, this revolutionized photography in the early days, making it accessible to the everyday person. Digital cameras do this today, even more prevalent with cameras on personal phones. With the camera on phones, history, is in fact, repeating itself.
My own transition from film to digital and the introduction of photoshop opened avenues of adventure. Along the way I also discovered the eclectic work of Hannah Maynard (1834-1918). Her various styles and diversity gave me the permission I needed to no longer be stuck in documenting the real world. I knew her influence would springboard me forward and would impact my own artistry.
No longer did I rely on storytelling the reality of the day; documenting it from a feminine perspective, where I prided myself on capturing emotional content . Instead, I introduced the surreal and empowering to forego modern day, or choose it to be present. Within the reality of my photographs in the two dimensional space and confines of my canvass, my work evolved from the eclectic visions of my mind into development of that variety of genres.
Although diverse in subject matter, and sometimes controversial at times, it allowed storytelling in a new and different way for me to express my imagination or “ thought bubbles” as I call them .
These thought bubbles I have carried since childhood, are bursting with the spiritual, astrological and somewhat dark subject where I invite the public to interact, question and be uncomfortable. They may, if they choose, interact, reflect, and internalize the hidden message of hope in each piece.
The process involved in creating these pieces became more complex with the layering of textures and the melding of numerous photos together, often from my many different travels from around the world. The progress of my imagination from my creative mind is to explore more of the darkness of the human psyche.
Many of the pieces have a painterly quality that is done by choosing brushes, or creating one from a piece of the actual photo, to mimic colour tones or contrasts that place emphasis on areas that demand extra, but subtle attention. I like to call my pieces onions, because of all the layers it involves from a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual realm. Dealing with the strengths and weaknesses, of life there is a commonality from the surreal linking hope and struggle emerging into resilience, even though the work has bizarre and somewhat dramatic narratives.