Being Abstract on 14 November 2023 Print

MY BRIEF HISTORY AND BACKGROUND: I have been designing photographs since about 1977. From grade school through university, I created photographs as a hobbyist as I was growing up in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. I am a self-taught Artist and Photographist for the most part: I did, however, take one class in "Drawing," at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, as an undergraduate student. From 1997 until 2001, I worked as a freelance editorial Photographer for several magazines, including GOLD, Dance Teacher Now, Dance Spirit, and BLADE. Some of the specific areas of my editorial work were Stage & Dance Production Photography and Historical Photo-Essays, which concentrated Malaysian culture. However now, I am focusing more of my time working on Abstract Art Photography. I am especially interested in Abstract Expressionism and Rorschach Art. MY INFLUENCES: Jackson Pollock is my primary influence. A lot of my time is spent on Abstract Expressionism Photography. I am also doing more experimentation with Urban Color Field Photography. My favorite painters, however, are not abstract artists. I love the works of Camille Pisarro, Rembrandt, Canaletto, Edward Hopper, and many more. My main philosophical artistic influence is Robert Henri, who also was raised in Nebraska (Cozad, Nebraska). I own three incurable diseases that cause me pain every day: Ankylosing Spondylitis, Osteoporosis, and Ménière's Disease. I attempt to channel my pain into my work. I also attempt to focus on creating work so that I can divert some of my pain and fatigue caused by my diseases. Doing my artwork is helpful, but it is not a solution—there are no solutions for my diseases, and they are a part of me. Thus, my diseases influence my work, and much of my work is 'dark'. A good portion of my newer works would be from the "Dark Side of the Force", and that "darkness" is the pain I feel, unleashing itself in my artworks. MY RECENT ART PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES: Recently, I have focused a lot of my time on creating photo-manipulation paintings of my images using various computer techniques. I also have two outer space/Science Fiction themed photo-art series: 1) "A View from the Edge of the Milky Way Galaxy"; and 2) "Alien Landscape".