I create figurative images, often bordering on the abstract or surreal. I play with light and shadow, the beauty that is in colors and patterns, to blur the boundary at which shape and texture develop meaning. While I have a recognizable style, my work spans the spectrum from photorealistic to abstract.
My work is full of vivid color which I obtain with a variety of methods including use of long exposure photography while shining colored light onto and around models, photographing models painted using conventional, metallic, or UV fluorescent paint, projection photography, and adding color during computer-based post-processing. Sometimes I use multiple methods in a single image. I start by shooting models, almost always in a studio where I can completely control the light. I shoot backgrounds and textures everywhere from Lansing (MI) to Lhasa (Tibet).
Some examples of how I work: creating clothing that does not exist in the real world but is made of materials such as milk, light, glitter, ribbons flower petals, or fire; mandalas that make semi-abstract shapes from unusually-lit and then recombined human figures; separately photographing texturally interesting background elements and then recombining them in novel ways to highlight an unexpected shape that emerges from the new synthesis.
I am a strong believer in art as a way to help the brain experience and enjoy the world. My wife is a neurologist, and I have studied neuroscience and neuroaesthetics; Much of the brain’s processing happens at a subconscious level and much of that involves understanding the relationships between objects, shapes, and the broader world. I am targeting those subconscious processes with my art to evoke an emotional rather than a reasoned response. In other words, I create works that invite the viewer to see the beauty in the world by appreciating relationships between form and color that we may not be able to consciously understand or articulate.
Shows (Solo or Featured Artist)
September 2019 -- Shiawasee Arts Center, Shiawasee, MI
May 2018 -- East Lansing Art Festival, East Lansing, MI
May 2017 -- East Lansing Art Festival, East Lansing, MI - Emerging Artist
December 2016 - February 2017 -- Wheatons Framing and Art Gallery, Mason, MI
April -May 2017 -- Keys to Creativity Event Gallery, Lansing, MI
Awards
April 2022 Mid Michigan Art Guild Spring Show - Hands of Time - Award of Excellence
October 2018 Mid Michigan Fall Show - Loving Touch - Honorable Mention
May 2018 Mid Michigan Art Guild 12X12 Show - Seated Beauty - Honorable Mention
February 2018 The Red Show - Fire Girl - Honorable Mention Keys to Creativity Gallery
May 2017 Mid Michigan Art Guild 12X12 Show - Sonja in the Machine - 2nd place (Judged by Debra VanDeusen, Flat River Gallery)
October 2016 Mid Michigan Art Guild Fall All Member Show - In a Bubble - Honorable Mention (Judged by Roy Saper, Owner, Saper Gallery)
Select Recent Group Shows
December 2021 Absolute Gallery, Lansing, MI - Small Works Show
November 2021 Cary Senior Center, Cary, NC - Cary Photographic Artists 14th Annual Open Juried Photographic Exhibit
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Artist Gallery