Friday, June 15, 2012

Announcing New Photographer Matt McKee

Artist Statement

Photography is only a means to an end, a tool to be used to explore a concepts that are too complex to be framed by words. Once you get beyond the technical aspects of creating an
image, the rest is pure imagination.


Found on the Beach Statement

Found on the Beach was inspired by a lifetime of exploring that magical transition zone where water meets land.

The next transition, from where I always stand, kneel or crawl, is unreachably far away, where the sky meets the water. While beautiful to look at and mesmerizing at times, it is the stone underfoot that you can pick up,  hold in your hand and put into your pocket.

Of course, the magical zone manifests more than stones. Every day, a walk along the shore line exposes new treasures and shiny baubbles, textures and trinkets.

Each item has taken on a new life in this place. A nail or bottle is no longer something man made. The water’s interaction with the land has changed the object into something often unrecognizable.

The stone, once a chip or crystal, part of some bigger rock, has been caressed to the point that it is almost transparent, smoothed to the point that “rock”, with all of its rough connotations, just doesn’t apply.

I feel some guilt, picking up the piece of shell and putting it in my pocket. I know I have interrupted a pattern. I have changed its destiny to make it a star in my own small dramas. It was meant to be part of the beach, another grain of sand that will rub up against the next rock or shell, replacing itself as it gets smaller.

Maybe, one day, I will plan a visit to the beach in reverse. I will go to my shelves and drawers, fill my pockets with stones and bits, and scatter them into the incoming tide.




Grenade! Statement

The Grenade Series began early in 2012 as a simple exploration of explosives and food.

Juxtaposing a lemon with the fuse handle of a grenade seemed like it could describe so many different concepts:

            • my love/hate relationship with fruits and vegetables
            • my concerns over eco-terrorism
            • and vague feelings of impending doom over the impact of humanity upon the natural world.

As they say, it was a good idea at the time.

The series rolls on. Now, I have a hard time going into the fresh veggie section of the grocery store. Star fruits and cukumbers all start clamoring for my attention, only to be shouted down by eggplants and zuccini’s.

I have received several cross looks from older women and shop clerks for overly examining various produce under different light sources in the store.

Ah, all in the name of the message.






Promethean Dreams Statement

Derived from Prometheus, the Greek god who stole fire and gifted it to humanity.
An exploration of the visual form of a flame. Captured in a moment, frozen in an abstract, each flicker fascinates as it caresses  and careens through an invisible world.

It is a slice of primal force that takes on its own life and personality, which causes us to stare in rapture.

To worship at the hearth, as we have done since the beginning.

Some see angels and dragons, while others see dancers and waves.

Both, and neither, are correct as this primal element echos to something deep inside us all.

Fire, the primal element that gives birth to the universe and all that is within it. It is a catalyst for change, both destructive and rebirth.

It is the violent oxidation that changes everything.

See also the Promethean Dreams video at http://youtu.be/46ahaEJgQBc


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