Byzantine art has always fascinated and intrigued me, in particular icon paintings—they are abstract, stylized and symbolic images of religious and imperial persons.  With the use of jewel toned paint and gold leaf often showing a halo around the subject’s head.  Another admiration of mine is the work of symbolist painter Gustav Klimt.  Klimt’s anti-naturalism and anti-realism oil paintings are lush, vibrant, patterned and thus mesmerizing.  Both of these appreciations can be seen as influences in the portraits I create.  Typically depicting the human form embellished with decoration, I feel that every one of us is an inherently spiritual being thus deserves the recognition as such.  Halos and gold paint are indications to this testament.  I choose everyday subjects to draw from.  Sometimes the starting point is a photograph (vintage or contemporary) or a drawing conceived by viewing a live model.

 

In titling my works, I often draw from a symbolic meaning behind something depicted in the painting or drawing.  I am not loyal to one notion of symbolism—I extract from any culture, any mythology, or any era.  It just depends on what strikes a chord with me and how I see it to fit the artwork.

 

I graduated from Fine Art School in 2010, receiving a B.A. in Photography from the University of Southern Maine.  I chose Photography as my major because it was so new to me.  I never really considered it an art form until I took a photography class in order to learn how to shoot my artwork.  (And this goal was never taught in photography.)  One of the first assignments was to take six shots of the same object during different hours of sun light.  I personally did not have a good representation of this assignment because I chose something partially shaded.  However, in critiquing the class’s homework we had the chance to review each other’s results.  I was amazed at the abstraction and definition that could come about from early or late light.  Another, aha-moment for me was in the darkroom.  The images could be manipulated under the enlarger’s length of light and use of filters and then it all came to life in solutions—this to me, was magical. 

 

At first, I was content with photographing the world around me—cityscapes in Portland, Maine.  I loved taking long walks and photographing the interesting juxtapositions I came across.  After feeling I had exhausted Portland I made trips to Boston, MA.  This was really overwhelming due to the fact it is such a big city and I did not know the characteristics of the neighborhoods.  When I started shooting color negatives, I was introduced to the medium format Mamiya RB-67 camera.  With it I captured portraits of people I knew or acquaintances.  Typically, the photographs were taken inside dwellings as I remember it was the cold winter/spring months in Maine.  The color was vivid and the finished size 20” x 16”.  Soon my senior thesis project developed.  I photographed individuals in a range of ages in the same position on their beds—showing what I call the “shush sign” index finger to the mouth and sitting cross-legged.  I also photographed my subject’s ears.  It was a conceptual project titled “Awakening Schizophrenia: Try Not to Listen.”

 

While in fine art school I had also a love of painting.  After I graduated, I further embraced this avenue and let the photography go to the wayside.  I have taken Continuing Education classes in painting and mixed media portraiture.  Today, I enjoy painting and I digitally photograph people in order to paint, do mixed media work and occasionally draw.  However, I do not call it quits for photography—I just might pick it up as an art form once again.  I find that life’s journey is a lesson in itself and each day brings new blessings, challenges and surprises.