No.9 Print

The art of Lumia has inspired my work since 1968. Creating mechanical light boxes for thirty years enabled me to explore many aspects of the properties of light. In 1998, my work became digital. I started making Lumia compositions using commercial optical simulation software. I create Lumia machines inside the computer. These machines simulate the manipulate of the properties of light over time to generate silent compositions of movement, color and transformation. Seeing the work of the 20th Century Lumia artist, Thomas Wilfred, at the Museum of Modern Art motivated me to experiment with light as an art form. Watching the colors move, blend and change was a unique and captivating experience. Mr. Wilfred struggled throughout his life to gain acceptance for Lumia as the eighth fine art, independent and an equal of painting, drawing, sculpture, music, dance, writing and song. The 20th Century brought rapid technological transformation, and artists embraced technology, resulting in innovative works that spanned multiple "independent fine art" disciplines. As the number of 'fine arts" continued to expand, the traditions and principals of Lumia were absorbed into a universe of "Light Art" movements and genres that include film, television, multi-media, computer art, special effects and visual music. My Digital Lumia compositions are synaesthetic. This means that the viewer experiences my pieces with all of their senses. For example, because the pieces are silent, the viewer hears their own music or sounds that coincide with the images they are seeing. The constructions of light imagery trigger the mind to create sound, flavor, texture and feeling. The resulting visual, aural, intellectual or emotional experiences exist uniquely in each viewer. As an artist, my goal is to create an independent form that exists solely within each viewer, as they are the ultimate determinator of what art is, regardless of the media by which it is created. For me light is an ideal medium of expression as it communicates visual qualities that are evocative, otherworldly and open-ended. Light moves in naturally ambiguous ways, opening perceptual possibilities. Color offers the raw, visceral component. Time/motion in the digital realm are unlimited in their variety of transformational possibilities. When combined by the artist, these form the structure of contemporary Lumia composition.