Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Gabiko IoMo has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Gabiko is an award-winning digital artists based in Canada. Gabiko was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 20th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified her art to be showcased in this feature.
Gabiko’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting her artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Gabiko’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography:
Gabiko IoMo has always been fascinated by art and, skillful in various crafts, she practiced it successfully in one form or another, from an early age. In the last decade, she replaced the brush with the mouse — the result is just as spectacular — and, as a digital artist, she built a substantial portfolio.
She does not use sophisticated tools — only MS Paint and Jasc Paint Shop 9, in an old XP. She prefers to be the person who does the job, not the machine. Since she wasn't taught, but "invented" computer graphics, she does everything her own way, playing with volumes and lights to keep forms in balance and nuances in harmony.
Gabiko’s paintings are, invariably, square in shape, made with vivid colors and tinted, quiet often, with a drop of irony. Transferred on canvas, they are highlighted by a black floating frame. She just started my journey (from anonymity to light) as a digital artist — her background of expos and memberships in the field is very limited — but she has two mini-galleries that you can visit online. Please find them listed below.
Artist Statement:
I believe art is essential for humanity. It reflects the mind, the soul and the philosophy of each nation and its expression punctuates the history.
I like everything related to art — music, dance, literature — but what make me vibrate are the paintings. So it was easy for me to pass from the art crafts that I practiced for long years to the art assisted by computer. Easy because, when I paint, everything else disappears — it’s only me, the mouse and my subject. And the subject, I can feel it. I know exactly how it must look once transposed on canvas. I "see" the whole as if it were ready and framed. It only remains to materialize what had germinated in the imagination.
I work nonstop (always following a plan) and any element around — vistas, textures, sounds — can inspire me. My creations are full of colour and joy — strong and sometimes hyperbolic, but always honest.
Painting is my pleasure, my life — without my art, what am I?
Gabiko has two websites: https://gabiko-iomo.square.site and https://gabiko-iomo.wixsite.com/portfolio.
The gallery’s competition for November 2021 was the 3rd Annual “Primary Colors” Online Art Competition. 2D and 3D, artists, (including photography & digital art) from around the world, were called upon to make online submissions for possible inclusion in to the Gallery’s December 2021 online group art exhibition.
Artists were asked for their interpretation of the “Primary Colors” theme by submitting their best abstract or representational art for this competition. The “Primary Colors” theme was one in which at least one of the primary colors (Red, Blue &/or Yellow) stood out as a primary artistic element in the artwork. Any subject matter and any media were acceptable in this open theme competition, as long as the colors in the artwork were at least one or more of the three primary colors. The submission process and competition for the artists began in October 2021 and concluded on November 27, 2021.
The gallery received 627 entries from 24 different countries from around the world, as well as from 30 different states and the District of Columbia.
The exhibition has been divided into three media categories. Painting & Other Media, Photography & Digital and 3 Dimensional Art categories. In addition, there is an overall Winning Artists Category, which is the “best of the best” and consists of the ten (10) best entries comprised from all the media categories.
The gallery also included Special Merit awards and Special Recognition awards for outstanding art. Many of the artists in either of these groups could have easily been included in the upper tier of our winners, as their art was also exceptional.
All winning entries will now be featured on the Light Space & Time website for the month of December 2021. Thereafter, the artworks and links to the artist’s websites will remain online in the Light Space & Time Archives.
Congratulations to our artists who made our 3rd Annual “Primary Colors” Art Exhibition so successful this month. At any time, we invite our winning artists and other interested visitors to link their websites to the Gallery’s archive page for further ongoing promotion.
Overall Winning Artists Category – The overall winning artist’s category consists of the 10 Best Entries received from the Painting & Other and the Photography & Digital media categories. Please go to the results of the Primary Colors Art Exhibition “Overall Winning Artists” Category here.
Special Merit Award Category – These are the artists and their artwork which we felt could easily have been placed higher but due to the size constraints in each media category, this art was placed in this special category. Any of the Special Merit art, in many cases, is interchangeable with the best art that we selected for the top tiers. Please go to the results in the Primary Colors Art Exhibition “Special Merit Award Category” here.
Painting & Other Category – This media category is considered to be any art where a pigment was applied to a two-dimensional surface, such as canvas, paper, or panel. This category comprises the following media; acrylics, oil, pastels, watercolor, gouache, tempera, ink, line type drawings, encaustic, fresco, etc. applied on canvas, canvas board, paper or any other flat surface.
In addition, this category also includes any fabric, mixed media, mosaic, and various other media. Please go to the results in the Primary Colors Art Exhibition “Painting & Other Category” here.
Photography & Digital Category – This media category contains any images captured by either an analog or digital camera and would be viewed as a print. Black and white photographs, color photographs, digital or analog photographs, photograms, other experimental photography, alternative photographic processes, manipulated photography etc. would be included in this category.
In addition, this category also includes most digital art in this section. Please go to the results in the Primary Colors Art Exhibition “Photography & Digital Category” here.
3 Dimensional Art Category – This category contains any art which has or seeming to have length, width, and depth. Relief, pottery, sculpture, installation, kinetic, and conceptual 3-D artworks created in metal, paper, wood, stone, fiber, plastics, glass, ceramics, trash or any other material that can be used to create 3-dimensional art. Please go to the results in the Primary Colors Art Exhibition “3 Dimensional Art Category” here.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is very pleased to announce that Jyl Blackwell has been selected as one of the four winning artists of the gallery’s recent 19th “Solo Art Series” Art Competition. Jyl will now have a month-long solo art exhibition and she will be featured on the gallery’s front page, in the Gallery’s YouTube Channel, as well as in the “Solo Art Series” archive.
Jyl is an award-winning artist based in Washington, USA. She will now be promoted by the gallery with an extensive public relations campaign.
For this solo exhibition, the Gallery will distribute, promote and circulate press releases to over 550+ major News Outlets, including Premium FOX, CBS, and NBC Affiliated Sites, with guaranteed inclusion on Google News & Bing News. The Gallery will also provide social media distribution through LST gallery’s broad social media network.
In addition, as part of her award package, Jyl will now be featured as a Light Space & Time – Artwork Archive promoted artist.
Jyl’s art will also be featured on the gallery’s YouTube Channel and with an event postcard.
The “Solo Art Series” is a series of monthly solo art exhibitions for established artists who have a body of work to present to the public. Artist participants were asked to submit the following 3 components for the “Solo Art Series” competition: 1. Their art. 2. Their artist biography. 3. Their artist statement. These elements were evaluated and judged, which resulted in the selection of the artists who will be featured in individual month-long solo art exhibitions. This was the 19th “Solo Art Series” Art Competition that the gallery has conducted.
Below are Jyl’s Artist Biography, her Artist Statement, along with 25 of her digital paintings. We hope that you will take the time to read Jyl’s information and to take a look at her artwork.
Artist Biography:
An award winning and published artist, Jyl Blackwell has been creating art and music since her childhood. She has early beginnings as a pencil and charcoal artist as well as dabbling in pastels and watercolor. When she wasn’t creating works of art, she was singing and dancing on stage.
Jyl’s art sprang from a love of science and technology. It wasn’t until recent advances in software that she was able to form art and science into a process called Kinetic Flow Painting™. Kinetic is defined as relating to or resulting from motion (of a work of art) depending on movement for its effect. And that movement is created by the flow of the pixels. Swirling layers of gradient pixels are put into motion on the digital canvas. Often inspired by nature, dance and the human form, Jyl bring the abstract to real-life experiences and observations.
Jyl Blackwell is an internationally awarded artist and has shown her work in many exhibits in the United States. Her most recent digital paintings can be seen in galleries and exhibits in the Seattle area.
Artist Statement:
I have always loved all things creative. Since childhood, I have written music and poetry, enjoyed working with textiles and fiber arts, and telling compelling stories through photography and traditional art mediums. I found a whole new method of expression when I discovered digital art.
My art arrived on the scene when I was able to form art and technology into a process I call Kinetic Flow Painting™. Swirling layers of gradient pixels are put into motion and painted on the digital canvas. Sometimes these layers reside on their own and sometimes they are incorporated into photographic or digital collages.
Several software programs are used to create each elemental note that is composed into one cohesive piece. Often, new advances in software send me in an entirely new direction but always with the same process of extracting the essence of the piece through color and curve, form and light - music for the eyes.
Jyl’s website is https://jylart.square.site/.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is very pleased to announce that Linda Lewis has been selected as one of the four winning artists of the gallery’s recent 19th “Solo Art Series” Art Competition. Linda will now have a month-long solo art exhibition and she will be featured on the gallery’s front page, in the Gallery’s YouTube Channel, as well as in the “Solo Art Series” archive.
Linda Lewis is an award-winning artist based in Texas, USA. She will now be promoted by the gallery with an extensive public relations campaign.
For this solo exhibition, the Gallery will distribute, promote and circulate press releases to over 550+ major News Outlets, including Premium FOX, CBS, and NBC Affiliated Sites, with guaranteed inclusion on Google News & Bing News. The Gallery will also provide social media distribution through LST gallery’s broad social media network.
In addition, as part of her award package, Linda will now be featured as a Light Space & Time – Artwork Archive promoted artist.
Linda’s art will also be featured on the gallery’s YouTube Channel and with an event postcard.
The “Solo Art Series” is a series of monthly solo art exhibitions for established artists who have a body of work to present to the public. Artist participants were asked to submit the following 3 components for the “Solo Art Series” competition: 1. Their art. 2. Their artist biography. 3. Their artist statement. These elements were evaluated and judged, which resulted in the selection of the artists who will be featured in individual month-long solo art exhibitions. This was the 19th “Solo Art Series” Art Competition that the gallery has conducted.
Below are Linda’s Artist Biography, her Artist Statement, along with 20 of her digital artwork. We hope that you will take the time to read Linda’s information and to take a look at her artwork.
Artist Biography:
Linda Lewis received a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1997 from Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ, USA. During the course of her study, she received a Fulbright scholarship to study at the Danish Design School in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her research culminated in the development of an original technique as well as an adapted technique both of which she utilized in her MFA thesis. Upon her return to the US from Denmark, she received the graduate school's highest award, the Nathan Cummings Foundation Summer Travel Fellowship. This award allowed her to travel to any destination in the world. Her trip included Croatia, Romania and Turkey.
This biography covers Lewis’ history in the genre of fiber art and her subsequent shift to digital art after 2005. Lewis reports that she doesn’t know where her attraction to the visual arts came from, but, as a child, her Mother saw to it that she was enrolled in a variety of classes in the arts, such as drawing, dancing, and performing. Later, her interest in crafts was inspired by a friend who was a weaver. After moving to the craft rich Appalachian Mountains, Lewis promptly enrolled in a weaving course at Appalachian State University. She began weaving sculptural baskets and purchased her own loom. This was all while she was studying for a master’s degree in Sociology. After completing the MA degree she became determined to study for an MFA.
After the completion of her MFA, Lewis developed an extensive exhibition record that includes national and international solo and juried exhibitions. After moving to Texas in 2005, she gradually shifted to exclusively creating digital photomontages in Photoshop. While in graduate school a presentation on digital media intrigued her. Post-graduation, she took a beginner’s course in Photoshop, but is mostly self-taught. Lewis began entering her digital art into exhibitions and won first prize in the category of digital art media at the 45th International Art Show at the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art in TX.
In 2019, she was awarded “Best in Show” for Photography/Digital Art in the CAGO ALL Water/Seascape exhibition, a Best in Show for the 2020 ALL Photography/Digital Art exhibition, and Judge’s Choice in the 2020 ALL Women Artists show. The online magazine “Living the Photo Artistic Life,” (issuu.com) regularly selects her artwork for publication.
In 2019, Gallery Ex Machina invited her to participate in a two-person exhibition in Barcelona, Spain in January of 2020. The gallery promotes itself as “the world’s first Cyberpunk and Steampunk themed art gallery.” Initially, she wondered how her artwork fit into the genre the gallery specializes in. It was pointed out to her that she was utilizing steampunk imagery in her art. That intrigued her, so she began to research the topic and realized Steampunk imagery would be a wonderful vehicle for expression. But more than that, it is the humor and spectacle that derives from a post-modern mash-up of fashion, machinery, safety equipment, and doomsday clocks that fascinated her. Ultimately, 12 pieces of artwork were selected from Lewis’ steampunk portfolio for the exhibition.
Lewis likes to work within a theme, and her portfolio includes themes developed on myth, murder, savagery, cults, drugs, music, legends, travel, and water—among others.
Artist Statement:
I create digital photomontages that are composed in Photoshop. Images are selected from original and secondary resources (creative commons, public domain). I generally work in a series format. The submitted artwork is from a series of work that I developed for an exhibition in Barcelona, Spain. The one constant in my artwork is my desire to present a social critique of culture. This stems from my studies in sociology and anthropology. I am particularly interested in the history of ideas and the development of ideological systems.
Linda’s work can be viewed on her website.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Sydney Paige Richardson has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Sydney is an award-winning artist based in Texas, USA. Sydney was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 18th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified her art to be showcased in this feature.
Sydney’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting her artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Sydney’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Sydney Paige Richardson was born in California but grew up in southeast Texas. She spent her childhood exploring the woods on her grandmother’s property, taking pictures with disposable cameras she saved up her allowance for, and making up stories in her head of fairies, magical portals, and other worlds that always appeared in her dreams. Her passion for writing grew, but she wants others to see the worlds she had fashioned.
Always knowing she was a creator at heart, Sydney explored digital photography in 2009 and fell in love. She devoured every online tutorial she could and taught herself how to work her first DSLR and Photoshop. She began exploring nature with friends and family as her models, creating conceptual portraiture to bring her fantastical worlds to life visually.
Sydney has been published in Art Ascent magazine as their Gold Artist and featured on the cover of their Sensuality issue in 2020. Sydney’s work has been exhibited in galleries and online worldwide, including Top 15 Artists, Honorable Mention in Light Space & Time’s Primary Color’s Art Exhibition, Target Gallery, Camelback Gallery, Memento Tea Gallery, and Treat Gallery.
Sydney was recently featured in Round Rock Arts Center’s Modern Masterpieces exhibition, and is an Art Guild Member in Georgetown at Gallery off the Square. Sydney has published three best-selling Young Adult fantasy novels through The Parliament House, and has her conceptual photography featured on the covers.
Sydney lives in the Austin, Texas area with her husband, son, foster-daughter, and three slightly oversized cats.
Artist Statement
Author. Photographer. Storyteller.
At my core, I am a creator, a storyteller. That is what I strive to do with my art. My work focuses on my emotional responses to occurrences in life. Though I am an author, at times I find it difficult to put into words how I am feeling. I turn to photography to express and delve into those moments. My goal is to create work that explores emotions, bends reality, and creates new worlds.
I primarily work with friends or family as my models, occasionally using self-portraiture for a piece, and shoot in my backyard or fields near my house. Using compositing in Photoshop, I move the subject into worlds I create by piecing together other photographs I have taken. It is like building a puzzle that only I know how to finish. I create other realms through this conceptual portraiture and add textures to give each piece a painterly, timeless feel. My work allows others to dive into a story, reflect on beauty in darkness, and discover the magical possibilities of where our mind can take us.
Sydney’s website is www.sydneypaigerichardson.com.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Matthew Jackson has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and he will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Matthew is an award-winning artist based in Colorado, USA. Matthew was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 18th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified his art to be showcased in this feature.
Matthew’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting his artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Matthew’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Matt’s art is born of depression. Prior to 2009, he was consumed by my job to the exclusion of his family and the truth of who he was meant to be. Matt was extremely successful in what he “accomplished.”
In 2009, as the pressures and excesses mounted, he was toppled and descended into a profound depression. Matt was out of work for two months. When he returned to his job, he was eventually transferred into a less stressful, less prominent position. Some would call it failure.
As Matt recovered, he found solace through Photo Shop. He began making pictures and eventually reclaimed his life through art. The images he creates speak to the person who was hidden for all those years. Matt was liberated from the mundane world he once dominated. Art has set him free!
Now, at age 67, Matt shows his work in Denver and in mountain art fairs throughout Colorado. People are excited by his images, and he considers himself moderately successful having sold over 1600 pictures.
Matt’s art is full of motion and bright with color. All of his finished images are photo based and he uses PS CS6 and Topaz software to create his art. Many of his pictures use multiple photos to achieve the desired outcome; these are called ‘composite’ images. Matt does not claim to follow a particular genre, though he believes a common strain runs through his work. He has many limited editions of 100 or less. Matt believes his work appears best when infused on a sheet of aluminum. This is how he presents much of his work at art shows.
Matt is retired now and actively supported in his artistic endeavors by his spouse of over 40 years and by his children. He doesn’t know what the future has in store for him. But he does know that this journey is not over, and it includes his family and the truth of who he is today.
Artist Statement
My work is photo based. I often use several photos to create one image. These composite works are manipulated with PS CS6 and Topaz software. My art is bright with color and full of motion. I have no formal training and came upon my methods through trial and error. I try to create art that makes people think about their lives and the lives of others. All of my pieces are limited editions. I have won several international awards, including a first place award for CityScapes sponsored by LST.
Matthew’s website is http://matthewjackson.imagekind.com.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Skottie O’Mahony has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and he will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Skottie is an award-winning artist based in Texas, USA. Skottie was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 18th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified his art to be showcased in this feature.
Skottie’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting his artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Skottie’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Skottie has always loved art, nature, and connecting with people. He has had a long, successful career in design and art direction for the publishing and tech industries. Several years ago, he designed his home and botanical gardens in Austin, Texas, known as Tanglewild Gardens, where he hybridizes daylilies with his husband, and pursues his digital art. He is inspired by texture, color and form — a fallen seed, small creature, or a striking individual may serve as his muse, and he takes photographs of that muse to be used as a base for his artwork.
More recently, Skottie has started to explore AI (Artificial Intelligence) as a way to explore new directions in his work, and currently creates his own muses. He still uses photographs of individuals who do exist, but through AI, he digitally “hybridizes” new people to act as the subjects in his portraiture.
Manipulating those photos digitally, Skottie transforms them into something that evokes a poignant response, awakens the viewer's imagination, or inspires them. His art has qualities, as well as integrated elements, that give a nod to his more traditional art background of painting, encaustic, pastel, etching, etc. Some older works of his are used for textural elements, digitally as filters or for layering, and as a way to add depth to an otherwise two dimensional work. This synergy of techniques makes his work unique, emotional and thought provoking.
Skottie is an emerging artist and has already been recognized in both regional and global art shows. He has also donated work for fundraising art auctions for non-profits and has done commissioned works for collectors. In January of this year, Skottie was recognized as a “Change-Maker” by VoyageAustin Magazine and profiled as one of their “Stories That Inspire”, for his career journey and digital artwork.
He has worked on several collaborative pieces with other emerging artists across the globe, and is often inspired by current events and his sympathetic reaction to xenophobia, bigotry and injustice. Being an out and proud gay man, he has experienced prejudice, bullying, and worse in his life, and tends to bond with the misfits of our world. He has spent a lifetime working with diversity, equity and inclusion-related causes and non-profits, and that exposure to those marginalized in society, is evident is his work. There are complex stories behind many of his portrait subjects, many of whom have been stigmatized, disenfranchised, or suffered great abuse or pain at one time or another, and there are haunting echoes of those hardships perceptible in their portraits.
Artist Statement
I’m inspired by the natural world and drawn to unusual and different textures, colors and forms. I might happen upon a spent blossom, a creepy insect, or a striking person that serves as my muse, but I always find a seed of beauty in whatever it might be. I’m driven to capture what drew my attention in an image and share what others, may have overlooked, but I was privileged to notice.
These images serve as the basis for my work. I push my images digitally to generate something that goes far beyond what initially drew me in, but still retains its essence. More recently I have been exploring artificial intelligence as a way to not only enhance my work, but to create worlds, structures, and people that previously may have only existed in the imagination or dreams.
Through the use of filtering, image layering and digital manipulation, my work transforms a simple image into the unexpected and often lends itself to pareidolia, or the human ability to see shapes or make pictures out of randomness. Think of a Rorschach inkblot, but with color, texture, depth and emotion.
The digital aspect of my work allows me to reproduce the final image on a number of mediums to texturally enhance the work even further, including metal, canvas, wood, archival paper and even glass.
My goal is to create that which has never existed, but with roots in nature; something that evokes a poignant or personal response, makes a statement, that awakens the viewer’s imagination and, if I’m lucky, inspires them.
Skottie’s website is www.skotoart.com.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is very pleased to announce that Sara Victoria Sandberg has been selected as one of the four winning artists of the gallery’s recent 18th “Solo Art Series” Art Competition. Sara will now have a month-long solo art exhibition and she will be featured on the gallery’s front page, on the Gallery’s YouTube Channel, as well as in the “Solo Art Series” archive.
Sara is an award-winning artist based in Stockholm, Sweden. She will now be promoted by the gallery with an extensive public relations campaign.
For this solo exhibition, the gallery will distribute, promote and circulate press releases to over 550+ major News Outlets, including Premium FOX, CBS, and NBC Affiliated Sites, with guaranteed inclusion on Google News & Bing News. The Gallery will also provide social media distribution through LST gallery’s broad social media network.
In addition, as part of her award package, Sara will now be featured as a Light Space & Time – Artwork Archive promoted artist.
Sara’s art will also be featured on the gallery’s YouTube Channel and with an event postcard.
The “Solo Art Series” is a series of monthly solo art exhibitions for established artists who have a body of work to present to the public. Artist participants were asked to submit the following 3 components for the “Solo Art Series” competition: 1. Their art. 2. Their artist biography. 3. Their artist statement. These elements were evaluated and judged, which resulted in the selection of the artists who will be featured in individual month-long solo art exhibitions. This was the 18th “Solo Art Series” Art Competition that the gallery has conducted.
Below is Sara’s Artist Biography, her Artist Statement, along with 20 of her images. We hope that you will take the time to read Sara’s information and to take a look at her artwork.
Artist Biography
Sara Sandberg is a photo composite artist based in Stockholm. She was born in Korea and adopted at a very young age by Swedish parents. Sara spent her childhood growing up in Germany and Sweden back and forth throughout the years. Later in life, she lived in the big cities of London and Paris. Although having worked in business and governmental environments throughout her life, Sara has always had a great love for the arts and has particularly pursued the medium of watercolours for many years.
Sara developed her skills in digital photo artistry through attending various courses in Photoshop, Lightroom and other software programmes and has developed a personal style in her work where she combines photography and digital painting with her artistic vision. She works with light and shadow to mold the scene she visualizes into a finished piece adopting a combination of photo-realism and painterly style.
Since a few years, Sara is a member of an international group of Photoshop artists run by Sebastian Michaels (founder of Photoshop Artistry and the internationally acclaimed AWAKE Group). Sara was featured artist in the 73rd edition of the magazine Living the Photo Artistic Life and interviewed on the Quill and Camera blog by Michaels. Sara has also appeared in the German DigitalPhoto Magazine and has twice received recognition in the Swedish photography magazine Kamera & Bild for her photo art composites.
Artist Statement
Photography, in combination with its nowadays digitally malleable characteristics, has brought me the technical means to create the scenes that I visualize in my mind. In my art, I wish to go beyond the boundaries of the real world and touch on the surreal and the juxtaposed. Often I find myself in search for the beauty and mystery inherent within and around us. I love to transcend into the realm of dreams where animals often become my vehicle to take the story forward.
I have always had a love for the arts but especially found my passion in drawing and the medium of watercolors. With modern day photography, I am able to transfer some of the painterly thinking into the digital arena when creating my work.
I always make use of my own photographs. Each leaves a personal memory behind of the day when the photo was taken. I only work on one piece at the time. I always want to start, carry through, and see the end result before I can move on to something new.
My work comes together through various photographic elements enhanced by digital painting where I use light and shadow as my paintbrush. In such way, I can also add to the scene by shaping the mood and bring out individual details.
I am greatly inspired by the beauty, harmony and mystery of the world we live in. I am drawn to beautiful and dramatic skies, open landscapes, and nature scenes. I am inspired by animals and interesting objects that could feature well in a composite and shape the story and atmosphere of an image.
Being an artist means for me bringing your artistic vision into your everyday life. It means harnessing the moments of inspiration and creativity but likewise trying to embrace all aspects of the process especially when it means adversity and hard work.
With my art, I would like the viewer to be carried away into another world and encouraged to create his or her own story or simply pause for a moment of contemplation. The world is a busy place where modern life styles have come to dominate. I hope for my art to provide a moment of respite and perhaps inspire to the thought “What if?”
Sara’s website is www.saravictoriasandberg.com.
The gallery’s competition for April 2021 was the 11th Annual “Botanicals” Online Art Competition. 2D and 3D, artists, (including photography & digital art) from around the world, were called upon to make online submissions for possible inclusion in to the Gallery’s May 2021 online group art exhibition.
Artists were asked for their interpretation of the “Botanicals” theme by submitting their best abstract and/or representational art for this competition. The submission process and competition for the artists began in March 2021 and concluded on April 27, 2021.
The gallery received 1,002 entries from 29 different countries from around the world, as well as from 36 different states and the District of Columbia.
The exhibition has been divided into three media categories. Painting & Other Media, Photography & Digital and 3 Dimensional Art categories. In addition, there is an overall Winning Artists Category, which is the “best of the best” and consists of the ten (10) best entries comprised from all the media categories.
The gallery also included Special Merit awards and Special Recognition awards for outstanding art. Many of the artists in either of these groups could have easily been included in the upper tier of our winners, as their art was also exceptional.
All winning entries will now be featured on the Light Space & Time website for the month of May 2021. Thereafter, the artworks and links to the artist’s websites will remain online in the Light Space & Time Archives.
Congratulations to our artists who made our 11th Annual “Botanicals” Art Exhibition so successful this month. At any time, we invite our winning artists and other interested visitors to link their websites to the Gallery’s archive page for further ongoing promotion.
Overall Winning Artists Category – The overall winning artist’s category consists of the 10 Best Entries received from the Painting & Other and the Photography & Digital media categories. Please go to the results of the Botanicals Art Exhibition “Overall Winning Artists” Category here.
Special Merit Award Category – These are the artists and their artwork which we felt could easily have been placed higher but due to the size constraints in each media category, this art was placed in this special category. Any of the Special Merit art, in many cases, is interchangeable with the best art that we selected for the top tiers. Please go to the results in the Botanicals Art Exhibition “Special Merit Award Category” here.
Painting & Other Category – This media category is considered to be any art where a pigment was applied to a two-dimensional surface, such as canvas, paper, or panel. This category comprises the following media; acrylics, oil, pastels, watercolor, gouache, tempera, ink, line type drawings, encaustic, fresco, etc. applied on canvas, canvas board, paper or any other flat surface.
In addition, this category also includes any fabric, mixed media, mosaic, and various other media. Please go to the results in the Botanicals Art Exhibition “Painting & Other Category” here.
Photography & Digital Category – This media category contains any images captured by either an analog or digital camera and would be viewed as a print. Black and white photographs, color photographs, digital or analog photographs, photograms, other experimental photography, alternative photographic processes, manipulated photography etc. would be included in this category.
In addition, this category also includes most digital art in this section. Please go to the results in the Botanicals Art Exhibition “Photography & Digital Category” here.
3 Dimensional Art Category – This category contains any art which has or seeming to have length, width, and depth. Relief, pottery, sculpture, installation, kinetic, and conceptual 3-D artworks created in metal, paper, wood, stone, fiber, plastics, glass, ceramics, trash or any other material that can be used to create 3-dimensional art. Please go to the results in the Botanicals Art Exhibition “3 Dimensional Art Category” here.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is very pleased to announce that Sheri Emerson has been selected as one of the four winning artists of the gallery’s recent 17th “Solo Art Series” Art Competition. Sheri will now have a month-long solo art exhibition, be featured on the gallery’s front page, in the Gallery’s YouTube Channel, as well as in the “Solo Art Series” archive.
Sheri is an award-winning digital artist based in Arizona, USA, and Labrador, Canada. She will now be promoted by the gallery with an extensive public relations campaign.
For this solo exhibition, the Gallery will distribute, promote and circulate press releases to over 550+ major News Outlets, including Premium FOX, CBS, and NBC Affiliated Sites, with guaranteed inclusion on Google News & Bing News. The Gallery will also provide social media distribution through LST gallery’s broad social media network.
In addition, as part of her award package, Sheri will now be featured as a Light Space & Time – Artwork Archive promoted artist.
Sheri’s art will also be featured on the gallery’s YouTube Channel and with an event postcard.
The “Solo Art Series” is a series of monthly solo art exhibitions for established artists who have a body of work to present to the public. Artist participants were asked to submit the following 3 components for the “Solo Art Series” competition: 1. Their art. 2. Their artist biography. 3. Their artist statement. These elements were evaluated and judged, which resulted in the selection of the artists who will be featured in individual month-long solo art exhibitions. This was the 17th “Solo Art Series” Art Competition that the gallery has conducted.
Below are Sheri’s Artist Biography, her Artist Statement, along with 25 of her digital artworks. We hope that you will take the time to read Sheri’s information and to take a look at her art.
Artist Biography:
Sheri has been a photographer her entire life, from a child snapping pictures with her 110 camera, to her first SLR, and finally into the digital world. She also has been an artist her entire life, winning her first art competition at the grand old age of five. In the past few years, she has intensively studied both Photoshop and Lightroom to learn how to enhance her photography and turn it into digital art. She has been published in “Living the Photo Artistic Life” magazine, “Photoshop Creative UK” magazine, “Conceptual Images” magazine, “A5 Magazine”, “MagazineGSPDigital”, and “Fine Eye Magazine” for fine art photography. She was recently named a finalist in the Photographer’s Forum 38th Annual Spring Photography Competition and was one of 40 artists selected to participate in a yearlong exhibition celebrating ACLU of Arizona’s 60th Anniversary.
Sherri has placed in the top ten in ten Light, Space and Time competitions, placed second in the SINWP “Creatures Great and Small” competition and earned a Gold Award in their member competitions. She has earned two Best in Shows and won a Solo Artist Showcase on Fusion Art, has won numerous Best in Show and Judges' Choice awards, and has been exhibited at galleries in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona and Greece.
Sheri splits her time between Arizona and Labrador, Canada, and is dedicating herself to pushing her photography and digital art even further.
Artist Statement:
From an early age, I had a passion for drawing and painting. I gobbled up every class I could during my school years, and even into college. As an adult, I have pursued photography, scrapbooking, Photoshop and Lightroom editing, and now digital art and 3D rendering. I am inspired by classical works of art as well as modern works, and strive to express my own voice in every image I create.
Art is life; art is my breath. It permeates every part of my life and gives me great joy, from simple landscapes to animal images to full-throated stylistic portraits. I am thrilled to have the opportunities I have been given to share my vision with the world, and look forward to continuing to push myself further and to learn all sorts of new skills and techniques to incorporate into my art.
Sheri’s website is www.sheriemerson.com.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is very pleased to announce that Nicole Wilde has been selected as one of the four winning artists of the gallery’s recent 17th “Solo Art Series” Art Competition. Nicole will now have a month-long solo art exhibition and she will be featured on the gallery’s front page, in the Gallery’s YouTube Channel, as well as in the “Solo Art Series” archive.
Nicole Wilde is an award-winning artist based in the California, USA. She will now be promoted by the gallery with an extensive public relations campaign.
For this solo exhibition, the Gallery will distribute, promote and circulate press releases to over 550+ major News Outlets, including Premium FOX, CBS, and NBC Affiliated Sites, with guaranteed inclusion on Google News & Bing News. The Gallery will also provide social media distribution through LST gallery’s broad social media network.
In addition, as part of her award package, Nicole will now be featured as a Light Space & Time – Artwork Archive promoted artist.
Nicole’s art will also be featured on the gallery’s YouTube Channel and with an event postcard.
The “Solo Art Series” is a series of monthly solo art exhibitions for established artists who have a body of work to present to the public. Artist participants were asked to submit the following 3 components for the “Solo Art Series” competition: 1. Their art. 2. Their artist biography. 3. Their artist statement. These elements were evaluated and judged, which resulted in the selection of the artists who will be featured in individual month-long solo art exhibitions. This was the 17th “Solo Art Series” Art Competition that the gallery has conducted.
Below are Nicole’s Artist Biography, her Artist Statement, along with 20 of her digital art photographs. We hope that you will take the time to read Nicole’s information and to take a look at her artwork.
Artist Biography:
Nicole Wilde was born in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up writing poetry and short stories, followed by song lyrics, some of which were put to music in the bands in which she played bass guitar. However, Nicole always felt California’s siren call of freedom and creativity.
In 1987, she moved to Los Angeles. Longing for a way to express her creativity in a visual format, she purchased a camera and began learning photography through books, online videos, and workshops. She expanded her knowledge of Photoshop in the same way and eventually combined the two disciplines, thereby finally finding her creative outlet in digital art.
Nicole’s other lifelong passion is animals. She has volunteered at rescues and shelters, photographed dogs to improve their chances of adoption, and co-ran a rescue sanctuary in California for wolves and wolfdogs, where three of the residents came home to live with her for ten years until their passing. She is also an avid bird-watcher. It was inevitable that Nicole’s love of animals and nature would find its way into her art. All images begin with one or more of her photographs, which are taken in natural settings, zoos, or sanctuaries. The photos are then combined, altered, or enhanced using equal parts Photoshop, creativity, and imagination to create a work of digital art. Nicole’s artwork has won international awards, been displayed in galleries, and been featured in magazines.
Nicole and her husband live in southern California with their two rescued northern breed dogs and boatloads of dog hair.
Artist Statement:
Animals. Nature. Emotion. Connection. These are the things that drive my passion to create art. My work is about the emotional life of animals, the interconnection of all beings, and the unseen magic that surrounds us all. Each piece begins with one or more of my photographs. By applying equal parts Photoshop and imagination, bit by bit an image is transformed into a fantastical universe, or an artistic portrait with deep texture and emotion. My hope is that my art touches the soul, stirs the emotions, increases our respect and appreciation for animals, and acts as a catalyst to reflect on the beauty and magic that is within us and all around us.
Nicole Wilde’ website is www.photomagicalart.com
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Nettie Seip has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Nettie is an award-winning artist based in Ontario, Canada. Nettie was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 17th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified her art to be showcased in this feature.
Nettie’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting her artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Nettie’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Nettie Seip started photography later in life having first worked in the field of science after receiving her MSc at McMaster U. Although Nettie loved science, she always felt like there was something amiss in her life and so she turned to re-educating herself at Sheridan College in Photography and Digital Arts.
She won many awards for her photography and her work has been widely exhibited in Mississauga and Toronto. Nettie also taught Photoshop and Lightroom to an art collective in Toronto and is part of a team of photographers documenting the Lakeview Project. Nettie has been published in the Globe, Mail and Toronto star and has won awards with the Mississauga Camera Club, the Photographic Society of America, Touched by Fire Toronto, and HM for the Creative Community Award at the Mississauga Martys. As well, Nettie has been an active volunteer in the community of Mississauga photographing events and received the community Adult Volunteer Excellence Award for Mississauga in 2019.
Inspired by a long list of photographers including Ansel Adams, Yosuf Karsch, Irving Penn, Bill Brandt, Phillippe Halsman, Dianne Arbus, Michael Thompson and Annie Liebovitz, Nettie specialized in portrait photography. Loving people and their emotional journeys' through life is communicated through her works and are her constant inspiration. Nettie’s work shows both the struggle people endure caused by trapped suppressed emotions and the freedom felt when these emotions are expressed.
Nettie has created an ongoing series entitled Life’s Journey. Recently Nettie has moved to rural eastern Ontario to the small town called Alexandria. All part of Nettie’s Life's Journey.
Artist Statement
I have always loved photography. I found it captivating as a child to take film of my family, freezing their expressions and waiting excitedly to get the processed film back. In my family, there was a lot of emotional suppression and emotional expression was viewed as a weakness. Moreover, my parents didn’t view photography as a career for a woman. Consequently, I went to university, graduated with an MSc, got married, had a great job and did everything I was supposed to do, but those emotions I suppressed, well, they began to surface and I had no idea how to control them. I was a prisoner; I was trapped.
One day I saw a man photographing the sun rising over the lake and I remembered my camera. I went over and asked him what camera to buy. We stayed in touch for many years as I became a photographer in training, quit my job in the science field and went back to school to Sheridan to learn digital photography. Photography allowed me to see the world differently and feel and express myself. Digital art took this to the next step by allowing my imagination to come alive, using Photoshop.
And so the series Life’s Journey evolved to assist me in the expression of trapped emotions. What I found out was that all the people I photographed were also trapped somewhere in their life, and so the photos reflected both their journey and mine. I became friends with everyone I photographed and they are all significant milestones in my own life’s journey. The series now embodies twenty pieces and will continue as my journey continues.
Nettie’s website is www.nettiephotography.com.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Jonny Garcia has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and he will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Jonny is an award-winning collagist based in Toronto, Canada. Jonny was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 14th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified his art to be showcased in this feature.
Jonny’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting his artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Jonny’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Jonny Garcia is an immigrant collagist living in Toronto, who is a self-taught artist with an interesting and unique background. He is a psychoanalyst, and a performer of different art forms, such as hypnosis and mime. He is passionate about the human mind, and his collages always have a deep symbolic meaning.
A significant turning point in Jonny’s career was his immigration to Canada. A new reality full of challenges and differences led him to an introspective and meditative journey. Since 2014, the majority of his work reflects his experience living in a different society. Aiming to create digital and analog collages that explore simplicity and colour, Jonny is always creating pieces to criticize society’s issues, and to express his deep feelings and thoughts.
Artist Statement
As a collagist, I’m looking for simplicity and colour exploration. Psychoanalysis influences my work greatly. I spend time pondering the message I wish to convey, and how to symbolize it. As a result, I usually create several collages about the same topic from different perspectives. The majority of my work is digital, which allows me a multitude of possibilities that suits my creative process. My body of work is deeply connected to my experience as an immigrant.
Having been a performer for more than a decade, I rediscovered art through collage when I moved to Canada in 2014. Differences in culture, society, and language motivated me to reinvent myself. Being alone in a new country gave me time to think, and find possibilities to deal with these differences, which result in several collages divided in series.
Jonny’s website is www.artbyjonny.wordpress.com.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Denise McDermott has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Denise is an award-winning Australian photographic artist. Denise was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 14th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified her art to be showcased in this feature.
Denise’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting her artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Denise’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
Denise McDermott is an Australian photographic artist. She was born and raised in Canada and moved to Australia as a young woman. She has been a photographer most of her life. She is equally comfortable shooting the night sky, the underwater world, landscapes, animals, studio work and macro subjects. She does not have formal qualifications in photography and is largely self-taught. She has been successful at National and International Competition level, having recently won a Gold Medal in Vigex 2018 Digital Salon of Photography and a Bronze medal in Sydney Harbour International Exhibition of Photography.
Denise recently completed two online courses called Photoshop Artistry and Awake, run by Sebastian Michaels. Because photography meets computer skill, she has become proficient in Photoshop which is Denise’s toolbox for taking photographs beyond the ordinary into the surreal. When an idea is forming, Denise will gather together some costumes and props and engage a model to help create part of the story. The story is then completed with the addition of other elements which she has also photographed and the result is a work which allows the viewer’s imagination to travel through the image and draw their own ideas into what they are viewing.
Recent themes that have inspired Denise’s work are science fiction and steampunk. Her works are often surreal and impressionistic. Denise has participated in exhibitions with 2 friends in an art gallery in her area for the past two years. Plans for the future include 2 more exhibitions this year. Denise believes the possibilities for creativity are endless once our imaginations are engaged.
Artist Statement
Photography is my passion and I like to take it beyond the usual, often into the surreal. My work often begins with a single image and grows to explore the possibilities of a theme. I like to create mythical scenes and place costumed models within those scenes. I recently completed two online courses called Photoshop Artistry and Awake, run by Sebastian Michaels. Because photography meets computer skill, I have become proficient in Photoshop which is my toolbox for taking photographs beyond the ordinary into the surreal.
When an idea is forming, I will gather together some costumes and props and engage a model to help create part of the story. The story is then completed with the addition of other elements which I have also photographed and the result is a work which allows the viewer’s imagination to travel through the image and draw their own ideas into what they are viewing.
I am inspired by fantasy literature and art, fairy tales and history but prefer to present an impression of a time and place rather than a literal interpretation. My work is a starting point for the viewer so that many interpretations are possible.
Denise’s website is www.imagesbydenise.net.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is very pleased to announce that Don Bergland has been selected as one of the four winning artists of the gallery’s recent 14th “Solo Art Series” Art Competition. Don will now have a month-long solo art exhibition and he will be featured on the gallery’s front page, on the Gallery’s YouTube Channel, as well as in the “Solo Art Series” archive.
Don is an award-winning artist based in Victoria, BC, Canada. Don will now be promoted by the gallery with an extensive public relations campaign.
For this solo exhibition, the gallery will distribute, promote and circulate press releases to over 550+ major News Outlets, including Premium FOX, CBS, and NBC Affiliated Sites, with guaranteed inclusion on Google News & Bing News. The Gallery will also provide social media distribution through LST gallery’s broad social media network.
In addition, as part of his award package, Don will now be featured as a Light Space & Time – Artwork Archive promoted artist.
Don’s art will also be featured on the gallery’s YouTube Channel and with an event postcard.
The “Solo Art Series” is a series of monthly solo art exhibitions for established artists who have a body of work to present to the public. Artist participants were asked to submit the following 3 components for the “Solo Art Series” competition: 1. Their art. 2. Their artist biography. 3. Their artist statement. These elements were evaluated and judged, which resulted in the selection of the artists who will be featured in individual month-long solo art exhibitions. This was the 14th “Solo Art Series” Art Competition that the gallery has conducted.
Below is Don’s Artist Biography, his Artist Statement, along with 25 of his images. We hope that you will take the time to read Don’s information and to take a look at his Neosurrealistic digital artwork.
Artist Biography
Don Bergland is an Associate Professor Emeritus of Digital Art Education at the University of Victoria and has been an active exhibiting artist for over 50 years. During that time, he has worked through a variety of professional media, from oil on canvas to his current studio use of digital tools and techniques. He maintains an active international exhibiting career and has featured his artwork in over 160 major exhibitions throughout the world.
Don has won over 70 creative & professional awards for his work which is represented in major corporate and private collections such as the Gulf Oil Corporate Collection (Alberta), the Madrona Centre Permanent Collection (B.C.), the Canadian Utilities Corporate Collection (Alberta), the Timothy Eaton Foundation Collection (Canada), the Chevron Standard Corporate Collection (Alberta), as well as in private collections in Canada, the United States, and Europe.
He has published 8 books dealing with art and creative activity, as well as published dozens of articles in scholarly and academic journals. His current studio focus is in using 3D modeling environments to create surrealistic imagery for international exhibitions. He currently lives and teach in Victoria, BC, Canada.
Artist Statement
Don Bergland describes his current work as a version of Neosurrealism with the objective of eliciting questioning attitudes in the mind of viewers. He creates his work using both traditional and digital tools, focusing on an integration of 3D modeling software and various graphic processing programs. Each of his artworks features a theatrical set defined by a stage with actors, props, and a backdrop. The actors in the set consist of everyday objects brought into combinations and interactions that attempt to elicit inquiry.
The content of the artwork focuses on themes such as time, aging, nostalgia, the footless pursuit of Utopia, and the conditions of ideology which disable our rational minds. Each image is constructed using conventions of visual realism, but with alterations that offer dreamlike possibilities. Themes and objects appear and re-appear from image to image.
Each artwork becomes a framed snapshot of a moment in theatrical space, noticed briefly, and then forgotten once more, a fraction of time when reality is breached and a frozen glimpse into the mental theatre of Eternity is experienced, an opening when the viewer can catch the faint hint of cotton candy breezing in from the sideshow midway, the pastel moment of a lost memory, a slight reminder that the past is never absent, and that the future is always in front of us.
Don’s website is www.donbergland.com/.
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that Christopher Paul Brown has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and he will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery’s Artist Showcase.
Christopher is an award-winning artist based in North Carolina, USA. Christopher was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists in the gallery’s 13th Solo Art Exhibition Series. The placement in this competition qualified his art to be showcased in this feature.
Christopher’s Artist Showcase feature will be promoted to over 350+ major news outlets, with inclusion on Google News & Bing News. In addition, the gallery will also be featuring and promoting his artwork in the gallery’s various social media networks for further exposure.
Below are Christopher’s Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.
Artist Biography
In 1980 Christopher Paul Brown received a BA in Film from Columbia College in Chicago. Nevertheless, he considers himself a self-taught musician, photographer and videographer. This is largely due to his unorthodox approach to art in all its forms. He views art as a matter of alchemy and uses improvisation coupled with straddling the polar opposites of intent and openness. The outcome is in part unconscious and is highly dependent on serendipity and synchronicity. Brown’s views on art and his unusual means of creation are the result of LSD trips in the early to mid 1970s. He brought back from those trips an awareness that we operate in more dimensions than the familiar four. It is Brown’s view that improvisation, alchemy and the straddling of polar opposites catalyzes the energies of these extra dimensions. Brown sees these extra dimensions as the frontier of our times.
During the mid-1970s he co-founded the Trusty Warins Performance Ensemble. It incorporated music, projected film and actors in a manner reminiscent of happenings in the late 1960s. In 1979 he co-founded experimental music group Random Touch. After initial marketing efforts failed they gave up marketing and live performances until 1999, though they recorded continuously. In 2003 Brown co-founded experimental music group Bosch. From 2000 to 2012 he produced and played on 17 releases that included CDs, CD/DVDs and a vinyl record. This music was played extensively on college radio stations, including MIT and UCLA, in London and Moscow, and received many strong reviews.
From 2003 to 2007 Brown created numerous experimental videos using the music of Random Touch as soundtrack. The results appeared in many of the major US film and video festivals and in 2004 the work You Define Single File was nominated for the Golden Gate Award at the 47th San Francisco International Film Festival. Brown’s initial photography efforts were well received. In 1979 he sold a work to collector Standard Oil Company of Indiana (renamed Amoco and now part of BP). Between 1979 and 1986 he participated in numerous exhibitions and published in two Chicago magazines. In 1985 he had his first solo show entitled Dubuque Revisited at Swen Parson Art Gallery at Northern Illinois University.
Brown suspended photography marketing and public shows from 1987 to 2009. In the late 1990s he moved from black and white 35mm photography to color medium format photography, and in 2013 he switched to digital color photography. Following the release of Random Touch’s last release in 2012 Brown devoted himself fully to marketing his photographs. Dozens of exhibitions followed, along with magazine and book publications and awards. In 2017 he exhibited 10 large works at the Ormond Memorial Art Museum in Ormond Beach, Florida. In 2017 and 2018 he exhibited three times in Europe: twice in Rome, Italy and once in Belgrade, Serbia. In October 2018 Brown was one of twelve artists selected to be exhibited on billboards for the 2018 Click! Billboards Exhibition: Writ Large. In 2017 his work appeared in Artwork Network’s Big Picture street art project in Denver, Colorado. In 2016 he was one of three winners of the 1st Annual Competition for Elevator Doors at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod in Yarmouth, Massachusetts. In 2018 he was a Gold Winner at the Moscow International Foto Awards for his series Fabric on the Dock.
Brown’s process includes extensive manipulation, both in-camera and in post-production with Adobe’s Photoshop. His work in the field is almost entirely with a hand-held camera, and has included a radio controlled remote flash, slow shutter speed and a narrow field of focus. In post-production he relies heavily on layers and often creates geometric mandalas, sometimes in the form of pentagons or even heptagons.
The outcome of Brown’s work is, in his own words, “…like the shards of dreams barely remembered.” He claims his photographs can tell different stories to different people and so rarely titles his work beyond creating series titles. His work appears to express the unconscious, the subterranean and the non-linear. His work does not address the mind. He is adamant that the mind is a fine servant but that modern society has deified the mind at a tremendous cost. Brown’s work addresses the soul and the heart, but through a lens that may well be from another dimension. He claims that his manipulation partially disrobes the subject of the camera. The viewer, he says, completes the process.
Artist Statement
“Ancient metalworkers had no need to understand the molecular and sub molecular complexities of their steel, bronze, copper, gold and tin. They invented mystical powers to describe the unknown, while they continued to operate their forges and wield their hammers.” – Frank Herbert, Heretics of Dune
I, too, have no comprehension of the mechanics of my art’s manifestation. I do have a number of metaphors, and these metaphors, in relation to one another, are paradoxical. My suspicion is that paradox is at the heart of art creation/discovery.
An alchemical approach has dominated my work in the arts over these many years; I want to find something of interest beneath the surface. I have applied this approach to 2D art, video art and music art. In every case I eschew extensive planning and reliance on the mental in favor of improvisation and the straddling of polar opposites. The polarities I most frequently invoke are intent/openness and obscure/reveal. A form of alchemy develops in this straddling of polarities. Surprise, serendipity and synchronicity then make their appearance, and a glimpse of something beyond the surface of my subject is revealed when this process is successful.
One of the metaphors I find useful is that I serve as a conduit or conductor of energies beyond my ken. Just as a wire conducts electricity and a lens conducts light, these energies flow through me but I am not in charge of them or knowingly responsible for their participation. Certainly these could be unconscious energies of my own, or they may be entirely external to me. My conscious self plays a role, but it is more as collaborator than as director. This, too, is a sort of paradox of polarities in that this internal/external explanation may be akin to the wave/particle model for electrons; both may be valid.
As Niels Bohr once said: “How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress.”
This series, titled Katrin with Smoke Under the Bridge, is from a fun shoot I did with model Katrin Dohse beneath an eight-lane bridge that spans the French Broad River in Asheville, NC. We shot just below the underside of the road above, atop dirt pitched at a steep 30 or 40 degrees. We shot with smoke sticks that she held in her hands. Her performance was both artistic and athletic. She was moving on a steep slope and working to be both in, and not entirely in, the smoke trailing from her hand-held sticks. The background was low-key – just dirt further up the slope and the bland metal struts of the bridge. The space was dark so I used a radio-controlled remote flash.
I was drawn to this shoot by the texture and slant of the dirt “floor,” by Katrin’s grace and athleticism, by the shunned, abandoned nature of the location, and by the use of smoke. I love smoke and was drawn to Katrin playing hide and seek with it. I took 208 photographs during this 70-minute shoot and later created 335 individual works of art. One of the things I like about the smoke is that it begins the obscure/reveal polarity before any double exposures or post-productions superimposition.
This shoot is a great example of what I call Radical Play. I have found Radical Play to be one of the easiest ways to achieve alchemy in art. The secret is to engage/straddle two polar opposites at once. My primary focus is intent/openness. I intend to create strong art and have fun in the process, and I am open to how the art will materialize. When these polarities are engaged, surprise, synchronicity and serendipity show up. Play of any sort allows an easy engagement of opposite poles. Play simply intends fun and has no interest in how it comes about. As a result, my best art comes to me as a surprise; it is as if I am discoverer rather than creator. Planning is always minimal for me. It is best to think of me as a primitive hunter-gatherer as opposed to a modern urban agrarian. Every venture is a metaphorical jump off the cliff.
Christopher’s website is https://christopherpaulbrown.com/.
