I have had a number of requests by people wanting to find out more about my art, so I've decided to share a little more about some of the pieces I have created, and what they mean to me.
The first piece I'd like to talk about is called, "The Jester." It is a digital collage which was created in early 2006. When I first began collecting vintage and antique photographs, I was never quite sure exactly what I was looking for, and yet I would always be captivated by the amazing blank stares that you would sometimes see in old images. I know now that the blank looks were often as result of having to sit for very long poses that sometimes lasted several minutes. At an antique festival in Hillsville, Va, I remember finding this quarter-plate ambrotype of an older gentleman with an amazing stare, and what really struck me was the look of defiance in his eyes. Its almost as if he knows death is approaching soon, and he refuses to go quietly. I've given him a paper which is reference to his pseudo kingship-the fact that he truly has no control over his fate, just as we all have no control over ours, and yet we can go day-to-day through life sometimes never noticing the beauty in our mortality. The text of this piece reads, "remembering that which was", and the words are placed in front of an empty tree in winter. Through the text and image placement I'm also commenting on that fact that even the memories we have are not permanent, and they too slowly fade with time. The piece is titled, "The Jester" because it is talking about how humans have an amazing ability to deny their own mortality, and how we go to many lengths to fool ourselves into feeling immortal instead on appreciating and enjoying the beauty in any given moment in our brief lives.
To find out more about this piece or to purchase click the image below:
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