I began my work in photography because it allowed me the breath with which to speak of deeper things. Having worked in printmaking, painting, collage, mixed media assemblage, ceramics and sculpture; photography has allowed me unlimited exploration of the radiance of the natural world…whether human, plant or landscape. I have deliberately chosen a process that deemphasizes color thus bringing into focus the essence of the subject… which opens the door for an emotional connection.
In the last 4 years I have been on a pilgrimage of observing the process of life through the camera lens. This has taken me through my own organic garden …to India, Jerusalem and Jamaica and back to the garden. I will sit for long periods of time with my subject and often shoot many photographs before I let go and see deeply what is before me. This process then becomes a meditation.
This body of work is an invitation to deeply connect with all things great and small and release into the center where the mystery exists…the nexus from which all evolves.
Exploring many photography processes, I am encouraged by the freedom of creativity that the digital darkroom offers versus traditional methods. I limit darkroom exposure and have chosen to edition my work as archival pigment prints, which I personally print. I have chosen very small editions in order to mirror the intimacy and simplicity of my work.
For me, the emphasis is less on process and more on the sensuous exploration into the most common things that our eyes fall upon daily. Seeing into the simplicity of my subjects points to the true nature of our existence.
My current work is part of my recent multimedia exhibition "One Thousand Tears". Statement follows below.
According to the Japanese legend, if you can patiently fold one thousand origami cranes your wish for healing would be granted. In creating one thousand tears, my wish for healing would be “Tikkum Olam” תיקון עולם…repair of the world’s heart and soul.
After the tragic experience of my brother David’s untimely death and the loss of a good friendship, my question was, how, as an artist was I to create out of these tears? Through the making of the photographic series about my brother, I was able to deeply connect with his life and gain extensive understanding and compassion. I experienced a profound healing and transformation. This alchemical process became a testament to the power of art as a vehicle for evolution and healing. A new path in my creative life had unfolded.
This exhibition explores this personal journey into deep heartfelt issues of grief, loss, migration and global earth changes. Through photography, printmaking, sculpture and painting, I use archetypal symbols to examine personal, universal and historical loss + healing in hopes of providing an opening of the “heartspace” to a deeper compassion in my viewers.
Sometimes the only way to heal is to dive deeply into the well of grief, then to emerge from the chrysalis of tears, having explored the chambers of the heart and finally to be reborn, merging with the tree of life. The human heart sculpture with the tears installation is the ultimate symbol of the essence of my exhibition and the continuing direction of my work.
Whatever brings us closer to our true essence is for me what authentic art is about. I will continue to strive unveil this in my photography.