 ARTIST’S
STATEMENT
Altered Images
'…-but
that's what art is…" the transformation and glorification of the
commonplace.' "World of Wonders," R.Davies
The construction of each piece of work occurs in two basic stages. The
beginning of this process, or stage one, starts with the collection of the
stock images. During this phase, the driving force is the thrill of the
hunt and the mystery of discovery. Each photographic image, in a sense,
becomes a found object. The images recorded in my photographs are a
combination of informally documenting urban decline and capturing the
idiosyncrasies of specific geographic locations. The location of the find
can vary from extensive travels coast to coast or my urban backyard. It is
possible to find a wealth of images in what would be considered to be
depressed areas. This includes industrial sites, abandoned homes and
businesses and antiquated amusement parks balanced on the edge of
extinction. The printing of these images has become a testimonial to
visually neglected urbanscapes and man-made objects that have become the
victims of entropy and progress. Architectural details; doorways, walls and
signs, rich textures, saturated colors and classic lines are some of the
elements I am in search of in the field.
Stage two takes place in the studio. Instead of showing prints straight
from the darkroom, I alter them by cutting, repositioning and painting on
the surfaces. This is where the transformation begins to take shape. Each
piece is a composite of several different photographs, not modified and
rearranged. This process allows me to freely draw upon my painting
background. Taking this approach outside the darkroom diminishes the
preciousness of the photographic print and creates a new space and time born
solely from my imagination. An ordinary object or building becomes richer
and fresher, in essence a new entity. Opening windows, splitting the seams
of doors, combining and juxtaposing incongruous images and shifting planes
produces a new flow of movement across the surface of each construction.
The depth of the pieces is emphasized by building up layers of board and
foam core. Even after all the alterations are made during this second
stage, the sites recorded in the stock images can be recognizable but
untraceable in reality. My goal is to draw the viewer, through a true
manipulation of captured reality, into a new view of the disregarded world
around them.
Diann Knezovich
November 2010 |
