It occurred to me, that while the digital camera and Photoshop are exciting tools, and very versatile at image making, there was something missing. It was to do with the surface. The surface of a photograph (or a digital print) is flat and boring, and reflects the light in an ugly way. There's also a missed opportunity - a material one, that is embraced by painters and sculptors. So I began to paint, varnish and stain the photographs or scratch into the surface, draw on them, write on them, burn them or attach other materials or objects to them. This has opened up a whole new world; a physical richness and depth that has influenced the conceptual and narrative content of my work also.
( Simon Dixon / Gerard Morrison / Mind-map of Alan Thompson / Rachel)
On one hand, it is this combination of technologies and processes used in creating art that interests me. On the other hand, I am not particularly drawn to abstract art, or to surface quality alone. I am far more interested in narratives, characters and situations. I am interested in portraying uncomfortable, imperfect, complex or emotionally charged situations and in the inner-workings of people in these environments, but at the same time trying to reconcile this with something physically balanced or visually complete. This complex and difficult to achieve but full of interesting contradictions.
In my current work, I am doing a series of portraits of people I know. Although they are portraits in the traditional sense (representations of people), I am pushing ideas of how to include further levels of information, stories or clues about my subjects, as well as furthering my experiments with combining digital and more hands-on media.
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