Second Nature: Constructed landscapes from California and Ohio 2006 - 2010

Part Two: Ohio 2008-2010

“No matter what we do it ends by being melodic.”   

John Cage, Indetermancy.

Since childhood I have been profoundly affected by weather and terrain. Born in Ohio, I moved to California in my early twenties.  The process of discovering the California landscape became central to my definition of self.  After several decades living in California I moved back to Ohio and began exploring the landscape, gathering pieces of the puzzle that shaped my earliest memories of the world.

Each of the 23" x 46" pigmented prints on rag paper in these series began with three separate digital files photographed from different vantage points in the same general environment. With photographic software I organized the files into a composite image.  It is not a literal reconstruction of a specific location but more like the experience of walking through a landscape and mentally building a memory of it moment by moment, frame by frame.

The print changes with viewing distance. Closely examining the print reveals disjunctions and random, unexpected visual connections between each file. Moving away from it minimizes the differences and the print solidifies into what appears to be a single image. The multiple perspective points within the constructed image also minimize the hierarchical structure and narrative content implied with single point perspective.

415107913, pigmented print on rag paper, 23 x 46 inches, 2010.