'Exposure' Collage

Unique distressed and folded archival pigment print on Rives BFK with acrylic paint, gel medium, and imitation silver leaf Signed on the back and comes with a certificate of authenticity which has a matching hologram numbered sticker. Through the creation of these works, I desire to understand and make sense of the psychology behind the choices I have made in my life and the interactions I have with society. I am a walking contradiction; I desire both to be guarded and vulnerable. I want to be understood but only within my own level of comfort. The fact is that I am both afraid of, and wish to be understood simultaneously. It is this conflict within myself that I am striving to visually express in this work. I hope to engage the viewer in this tug of war with how much of my personality and psyche to conceal and how much to allow to be vulnerable. In my current work, the folds in the paper are fractures or wounds that have dissected my life into different aspects that divide and unify a lifetime of experiences. This refractive and reflexive quality of the folds and the addition of layers of metaphorical experiences allows me to incorporate elements of cubism and conceptualism in the process of deconstructing the figure. The use of hundreds of layers of translucent paper involved in creating the visually diaphanous elements of the work in tandem with the contradictory guarded and armor like metallic elements represent the didactic nature of these opposing aspects of my life. They are my archeological investigation into my psyche, expressing my fascination with the psychology of exposure and concealment. This is a progression of my previous work through an expansion of my technical and visual vocabulary to focus more on the emotive and expressive engagement of the viewer. Utilizing the elements of texture, finish, and volume to transcend the source photograph and offers the ability to represent and enhance the viewers engagement in the delicate balance of vulnerability that we all struggle with every day.