A95.22.1

A statement from the artist reads: "These works are printed on a Kodak material called Translite, which is no longer manufactured.  It's made of silver emulsion on acetate which I back with a sheet of chrome mylar.  Under direct light the mylar reflects back through the acetate producing an unusual silver glow and because there is a thin space between the acetate and the reflecting surface, the images sometime dislocate making them appear three dimensional.  I like science and technology and frequently search for new vehicles for the images but the optical qualities in these came about accidentally more as a result of my interest in translucency.

     Conceptually, the work is about the human penchant for complex belief systems and the ramifications of that.  To explore the point I create tableaus in which I arrange objects in ironic or "inappropriate" relationships and use uncommon, broken or altered objects as the players.  For example, the photograph "Caste Correction" is of a cylindrical lamp of the kind typically used to light framed paintings.  I put the lamp at the center of the composition surrounded by heavily draped fabric.  The lamp is now the hero inverting its status and bringing into question the idea of fixed identity.  The photograph "Standard Inquiry" is of a carved wooden water buffalo tentatively examining the orifices in an electric converter plug.  The animal is unsure if this alien thing is a sexual object or food.  If the buffalo were human the mysterious thing might become a religious icon.  The self portrait "Me Two" is not really me.  Even if it were a traditional portrait it would still only be a symbolic illusion based on implication.  I say that it's me and people agree to take my word for it but since that version of me is only a shadow amongst other shadows of equal weight and isn't me in the familiar form, what is it?"