In the last decade, my practice has expanded to include time-based media and installation as tools to make larger connections to place, history, time, popular culture, theory and art philosophy. Using contemporary practices has allowed me more latitude in finding inspiration as well as new language for expression.
ChurchFire 2017 The Art Complex, Duxbury, MA
ChurhFire spans more than 3 years of photographic documentation and an additional 2 years of contemplation, editing, processing, conceiving and implementing this installation. As the process unfolded, the images became about more than a single unfortunate moment, growing to represent the resilience and power of space, family, time, history, and self-preservation. I have taken great consideration in imagining if I were the home owners walking into this space, how would I feel about what I am seeing?
I have attempted to create visual resonance while simultaneously allowing some physical discomfort throughout the space. With a tangible response to the depth of emotion resonating to physical insecurity, my goal was to create an environment that would express what it was like to wander this initially dark space and over time, discover bits of light and color as they emerged. Even the smallest aspects of the home space maintained a sense of importance despite its altered state. There remained a sense of warmth and positive energy, and it was these complex senses I hope to evoke through my work.
I have attempted to create visual resonance while simultaneously allowing some physical discomfort throughout the space. With a tangible response to the depth of emotion resonating to physical insecurity, my goal was to create an environment that would express what it was like to wander this initially dark space and over time, discover bits of light and color as they emerged. Even the smallest aspects of the home space maintained a sense of importance despite its altered state. There remained a sense of warmth and positive energy, and it was these complex senses I hope to evoke through my work.
OoMA- Objects of My Affection 2013
Play Suspended Memory 2009
This sculptural video installation further explores my interest in altering the viewer’s equilibrium. Sound, video and objects invents a space that is simultaneously chaotic and meditative. The literal elements in this piece all objects of mass communication; paper, canvas, television as well as video and audio components giving the installation linear sense of memory and nostalgia.
Memory Scapes 2009
Activated Memory 2008
On January 24, 1963 SAF B-52C Stratofortress flight 53‑0406 crashed on Elephant Mountain in Piscataquis County, ME killing 7 of the 9 crew. The crash site remains relatively undisturbed and has become a memorial for the men who lost their lives. The echo of the crash remains even as the shattered pieces are decaying and being absorbed into the growing trees and fauna. In this place the memory is deafening in the silence of nature.
The installation is comprised of a multi-channel display of video using animation, appropriated footage, location footage and a collage of audio to create space, time, anxiety and disorientation. The overall structure dimension is 8’x8’x10’.
While this project was conceived and executed years post 9-11, that tragedy was not a specific inspiration for this work. Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge the ways in which greater social consciousness will react, interpret and redefine a work or the artists intentions. As in all my endeavors, my aim is to create a space that alters the viewers equilibrium while creating opportunity for reflection on what the audience brings to the piece.
The names of the crew and their status after the crash:
Pilot, Lt. Col. Dante Bulli ejected- broken ankle
Copilot, Maj. Robert J. Morrison ejected- perished on landing
Navigator Capt. Gerald Adler ejected- fractured skull and three ribs were broken.
Lt. Col. Joe R. Simpson, Jr- perished
Maj. William W. Gabriel- perished
Maj. Robert J, Hill- perished
Capt. Herbert L. Hansen- perished
T-Sgt. Michael F. O'Keffe- perished
Capt, Charles G. Leuchter- perished
Fearscapes 2008
This body of work used conventional horror tropes to explore aspects of childhood, play, anxiety, implied action, class entrapment and personal expression. It was an exciting opportunity t bring my photography to life as I ventured into video work for the first time.