Land scape
Lee Musgrave
CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
When showing references to perceptual reality , your works convey a captivating abstract feeling that provide with dynamism the representative feature of your pieces , as in the ones you exhibited in Fleeting Moments . The way you to capture non-sharpness with an universal kind of language , suspending the viewers between imagination and reality marks out a considerable part of your production . How would you define the relationship between abstraction and representation in your practice ? In particular , how does reality and a tendency towards abstraction find their balance in your work ?
The balance between realty and abstraction in my work is achieved through thoughtful cropping … and somewhat by being sensitive to differences in scale … the scale of one object to all others in the image and / or to the overall area of the image . This is especially true with regard to texture . The texture of some objects changes dramatically when cropping enlarges the scale of it in proportion to other surfaces in the image . For example , if the image is of snow , mud , and plant debris and I crop a small area out of a large setting , the details in the snow may overpower everything else in the image … which renders the image unworkable . Hence , the balance between reality and abstraction in my images is achieved by profound attention applied to all of the elements ( line , color , shape , texture , light ) then perceptively cropping them . To add in the process , I tend to crop in manner that favors flat 2-D imaging .
It may sound strange , but while considering where to crop an image , I listen to it speak to me as to where the best place to crop is located . When I ignore that serene voice or can ’ t hear it the photo is usually not worth keeping .
For the viewer to appreciate cropping , how much experience they have had studying art compositions becomes very important . In other words , if the viewer has limited experience with the basic principles of composition , they may find my abstract photography images challenging to appreciate and / or comprehend . In many respects , it ’ s like asking them to make a giant leap from lyric saturated songs to instrumental jazz or classical orchestrations . The strain can cause them to feel intimidated and to divert their attention toward searching for any identifiable objects within the abstract image and that can be a futile path to follow .
While you once stated that the images you select are defined by your sense for the abstract intangible qualities of light , materials , and composition , we can recognize a successful attempt to provide the elusive nature of light with an almost tactile feature , and it ' s really captivating . How do you view the concepts of the real and the imagined playing out within your works ? In particular , is important for you that the viewers attempt to recognize traces of reality and the previous life of the materials you combine ?
It is not important to me that viewers of my work attempt to recognize the objects in each of my studio abstract photographs . It is more essential for them to respond to the visual aesthetics of the image before them for if they do , new avenues of understanding our world and hopefully themselves will open for them .
The images I create are defined by my sense for the abstract intangible qualities of light , materials , and composition . From its very beginning photography has been understood as a trace of reality that allows moments that are gone to appear present . It connects with a realm that is beyond our reach and yet