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Chocolate Polaroids

The original chocolate polaroids are photographed with the 20 X 24 Polaroid camera in the New York Studio. Chocolate is a cross-process film combining a black and white negative with a color positive. The resulting image has a unique solarized, split-tone, black and sepia-like luminescence. A combination of factors leads to making iris editions of these originals. Having them printed on water color paper is in keeping with the nature of my work and presentation. The archival Iris print with water proof inks is a process that is much more permanent than the dyes of the chocolate film.

20 X 24

For many years I have collected iconic treasures, some are derived from old manuscripts, and others are from searching through antique markets or collections. Each one of these figures holds a different meaning, symbolic reference or spiritual influence for both myself as the artist and the viewer/interpreter. Frieda Kalo’s beautiful yet tormented life came forth in the form of a partially connected puzzle for me in one of my photographs. Other visual interpretations represent the ongoing struggle and quality of a life, an ego, a spirit, a dance, a masterpiece lent by someone powerful enough to make a lasting impression on our lives. The Polaroid large format (20 x 24) transfer process lends a tactile quality to the photo imagery, and a one of a kind work on paper. Through the transfer process, dyes from the negative are infused into Arches or Fabriano paper.

Iris Prints

The images created with the Iris printing process are a continuation of my work with assemblage of collected treasures. Museums, private collections, friends, yard sales, antique shops, and sometimes the ground (particularly for winged objects) are the source of my visual vocabulary. This constructed language of objects represents my impression of existing and past histories. Rust and deteriorated canvas become backgrounds to insect-filigreed botanical illustrations, a frozen dragonfly or a 16C Icon. The clarity of the camera lens combined with (an accelerating) digital technology allows me to show the viewer a hyper-realistic, stratified, magnified look at my invented tableaux, sometimes with a dissonant chord. Nature, persona, association of object to space, color, time and repetition are what I stitch together in these high tech, yet very organic, compositions.