Like a precious stone turning in the light the facets of my oeuvre range from intimate slices behind the curtains of performances to powerful moments on life’s stage, literal urban tableaus and allegorical vignettes to abstracts and gestural figuratives.
My photographic Fine Art work has been influenced by a number of light imagers, e.g. Albert Renger-Patzch, Man Ray, Carlotta Corpron and Dr. Harold Edgerton. My research into artists from the Bauhaus and De Stijl was key in turning my focus to the sources of Color Theory and Pattern Recognition, Josef Itten, Johannes Albers and Rudolf Arnheim, and how to apply them to my imagery.
In 1979 I “captured”, Lumière Capturée, freeform, live, in-concert laser imagery on slow still film with an analog camera and am the only photographer in the world known to have accomplished this feat. These twenty by forty foot abstract patterns were produced using an argon-krypton laser as a live instrument. Acquiring both the vibrancy of the colors and the discreteness of the patterns with an analog camera and fine grain film was a challenge in itself. With elements of the imagery, e.g. colors, imagery and position, changing at a rate of somewhere around one ten thousandth of a second the timed exposures were additional hurdles subject to the inexact science of intuition. What assisted my process was my musical connection with the laserist. Robert Mueller of Laser Group ‘played’ the keyboard controls to create dynamic light sculptures. Images from this facet are in the permanent collection of the Amon Carter Museum, (part of the estate of photographer, Carlotta Corpron ) and the Schomburg Collection of the Public Library of the City of New York. These light projections are the subject of a book, Lumieré Capturée, co-authored with artist/educator Donna Finch Adams, Ph.D.. The 20″x24″ photographic prints are in an edition of 100 signed and stamped and begin at $2,500.
The Mug Files; Faces of the Famous, the Infamous, et al are four decades of the candid aspects or formal idiosyncrasies of people-on-the-street, musicians, actors and personalities. In reflections and shadows, from behind the curtain to in front of the lights these are not ‘por’-traits, but ‘i’-traits the of individuals who have crossed my film plane. Represented in the collection of the National African American Museum of History and Culture is an image of pianist Anthony Davis. The 20″x24″ photographic prints are in an edition of 100 signed and stamped and begin at $1,000.
The move to the North California Bay in 2004 was the impetus behind the MusIkons. These are manipulations of Lumieré Capturée and MugFiles then finished in one or more Old World surface treatments. The 16″x20″ photographic prints are in an edition of 39 signed and stamped and begin at $2,000.
My independent study of various avant gardé, de Stijl and Bauhaus artists, photographers and architects was the impetus behind exploring imagery created through process, form and texture on light-sensitive material. jinnagraphs are one-of-a-kind, process- or image-manipulated Cibachrome prints inspired by the Rayographs of Man Ray and in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. These images are Not For Sale
Designed to be an entry point for individuals interested in collecting my work, the Outtakes from my Instagram account have been photographed with my Samsung phone. This facet explore three of the Classic themes in Photography, Street scenes, Abstraction, and Flora. The 11”x14” archivally-produced images are limited edition, signed and numbered in an edition of 100 and begin at $350.
Much like the Arts and Crafts Movement the excerpts facet is my response to the current times and technologies. Emulating the painters’ technique where veneers of different kinds of wood would be glued together, sliced across the perpendicular axis and then “collaged”, my ‘tumbler images’ are software-manipulated elements of other facets. Including images from Lumiere Capturée they juxtapose digital and analog, organic and technologic, Ancient and New. As finished works they have a variety of Old World surface treatments, such as goldleaf, eggshell, etc. These 40″x60″ works on canvas are in an edition of 48 signed and stamped and begin at $3,500.
During a symposium given for Dr. Harold Edgerton at the University of Wisconsin in 1979 I met glass artist and holographer Matt Hansen at he time the assistant to Dr. Cheung Jeung. We began discussing the possibility of ‘capturing’ the physical manipulation of molten glass and using the resultant imagery in glass. After weeks of sweaty days resembling the witches’ cauldron scene from MacBeth a facet of figurative images evolved from the visceral waves of variegated orange strands. So was born Hot Light; conjuring from the bucket. These images will be showcased in 2018.
The Eyes of Osiris are interpretations of the struggle between the brothers, Set and Osiris, as presented in Normandi Ellis’ Awakening Osiris, a translation of the Egyptian Book of the Coming Forth by Day. These multi-media images tell the story of the dismemberment of the vanquished Osiris and the visions seen by his eyes before their reunification with his body and in the permanent collection of the Houston Museum of Fine Art.
The Objets facet are 3-dimensional works incorporating photographic elements. These images will be showcased in 2018.
Focused primarily on Northern California Heroes of Hemp:Outlaws of the New Millennium is the photodocumentary on the personalities and actors involved in the Hemp Industry’s parade toward legality. These images will be showcased in 2018.
With the passing of my last mentor in 2016 the latest facet, Tribute: Muses and Mentors, is dedicated to creating 2-D and 3-D images that reference the impact these individuals had on my work. These images will be showcased in 2018.