Process
The inspiration for all of my pieces begins with a photo. I spent much of my free time browsing online digital archives, searching for faces that hold stories behind their eyes, or figures that seem heavy with the weight of the lives they have lived.
These are the images that inspire me most, and I digitally alter them, isolating the figure and injecting them with color before printing them in sections on my Canon PROGRAF1100 pigment printer on either canvas or heavy acid-free art paper.
After an initial coat of fixative, I adjust and intensify the color of the images by hand using acrylic paint with glazing medium.
Constructing the Background
For my backgrounds, I use a latex-based synthetic gelatin plate (gel plate) and acrylic paint to create monoprints of printed digital images, pages of books, or my own hand-drawn patterns onto rice paper.
I may incorporate other varieties of papers as well for added texture. I chose images that echo the context the individual in the photograph lived in, that reflect contemporary culture’s narrative of that time, or that reference my own personal connection to the evolving piece.
The background is collaged directly onto primed and painted canvas or wooden panel using gel medium and sealed before mounting the individual pieces of the photographic image to form a whole using additional gel medium
The Awakening
This is when pieces start to become alive. Textural features are incorporated, such as sculpture or thread. Additional markings are applied to bring story and context to the image. Colors become richer, more cohesive, and the piece comes together as a whole. A title is chosen.
All works are then treated with one isolation coat, then two coats of UV-resistant satin varnish, and wired.