Forrest Floor (after Otto Marseus Van Schrieck)

These scenes are loosely modeled after the 17th century Dutch painter, botanist and entomologist Otto Marseus Van Schrieck. Known for his foreboding scenes of forest floors that include observations of animal life, plant life and decay. They are still lives depicting actual scenes from nature.
The images in this series are taken throughout New York City from industrial to residential areas. They depict various weeds and plant life flourishing in the cracks of sidewalks, out of the sides of buildings and underneath infrastructure. The scenes are colored by the trash strewn about by passers by.

UNIVERSAL DEFAULT

The photographs in the series Universal Default are taken in the empty, outer lying spaces of newly constructed "big box" stores across the United States. Lit by the ambient glow of modern parking lot lights, the borders that separate the empty spaces of agriculture from suburban commercial architecture are illuminated. The camera records an enigmatic and tragic reality that appears fictitious. These highly detailed photographs are taken with 4x5 and 5x7 view cameras. I do not create these landscapes I document them. My process is a faithful one, recording only what can be seen, there is no digital manipulation involved in these works. The landscapes are a universal phenomenon economically tied to a culture of retail that relies upon new development. My subject is a byproduct of economics, a leftover landscape. My work is strongly indebted by generations of artists before me, especially the American photographers of the 1960’s and 70’s whom responded to a need to re-examine the American landscape in a time of political, economic and cultural crisis. The work is not an all-encompassing narrative of “America” but rather a visual or archeological exploration grounded by a conceptual structure.

WINTER LANDSCAPES

All of the images are of doctor prescribed depression therapy light boxes, shot on an 18% "photo gray" backdrop. The prints are traditional gelatin silver prints shot with a 5x7 camera. Each image is titled after the object itself: New Horizons Ultralight, Sunbox jr and Nu-You are just some of the names of these devices. The images explore the nature and function of pictures. Visiting some of the issues in my previous work these images expand upon romantic ideas of the relationship between the self and the landscape, or in this instance a medicinised, surrogate landscape. The title of "Winter Landscapes" refers to a series of paintings by Casper David Freideich in which the same transcendent scene is repeated throughout several paintings.

OUTPOSTS

The Outpost project is an ongoing look at perceptual machines and perceptual architecture. My initial impulse was the look at the devices with which climate change is measured, this led me to devices and institutions that are used perceive our place in the universe and machines that are used to perceive the innermost workings of our universe. These outposts are buildings and machines that both mimic and supersede human perception. Each sight represents a physical manifestation of the senses. The images are shot with Infrared film and a “black out” opaque filter which show effects of wavelengths of light invisible to the human eye.