Freelance photographer based in Washington DC

Our society subscribes to a loss of myth, forgotten rituals, and provides little thought to the understanding about the creatures with which we share the earth. In this body of work I have created a personal magical belief system to invigorate my own sense of myth, ritual and humanness. Images that began as personal narratives or animal self-portraits have morphed into totemic representations of the animal. The animal and certain symbols are elevated to mythic status as they are assigned attributes of human emotions.

The artist will discuss his work in person on request.

I approach photography as a melding of art and science. With my engineering background, instructions and rules are always on my mind. The complex cameras of today require technical proficiency and understanding of the digital negative. This is contrasted by the creativity inherent in visualizing the scene, manipulating the model, still life, or myself, and capturing or generating the most pleasing lighting. The art and science come together when I recreate in print what the mind saw at the time of the photograph.

I am not opposed to digital manipulation. The true challenge is capturing the emotion behind the reality. All photographs start as a physical manifestation as opposed to digital creations. Manipulating the capture of the manifestation, whether in a darkroom or on a computer only builds upon reality to make a statement. Success for the artist is an image that was a joy to create. It is up to the viewer to determine whether it generates an emotional response.

photography is an analog to biologic memory, imperfect, susceptible to manipulation (both intentional and unintentional) and loss. i record the urban environment as i experience it - piecemeal, episodically and personally

*** i’ve painted my mouse saga (desperate woman goes to great lengths to rid her house of mice) using recycled kitchen cabinet doors (15 doors) as a base for my mixed media paintings.
the series ends with a flashback to 1983, from my journal documenting my first (unintentional) mousetrap.
convinced that i’m not alone with this predicament (war), i have devoted a separate cabinet door for viewers at Artomatic 2009 to insert their mouse &/or rat tales.
there is soon to be a catalog of my cabinet art in legible form for easy reading of the entire disgusting tale. (w/a surprise/semi-happy ending- not really an ending, which also takes you back in time. )

Artist Statement:

“As an artist, I’ve always been drawn into the depth and the mysterious side of the psyche. This is the source of my art and I can only express it in a language that transcends words.
My work consists of multilayered and patterned surfaces that I use as topographical maps of the mind. My internal landscape has its own appearance, colors, attractions and distractions. Among the many symbols of my mind is the awareness of similarities and differences between Eastern and Western cultures. There are connections between internal symbols and connections which stretch out to the external. I believe that there is as much to uncover beneath the surface as to discover on the surface. Our minds occupy a space between the conscious and the subconscious; my work encompasses what is beneath the awareness of consciousness and beyond the passive knowing of subconsciousness, and brings it to life.
Another aspect of the human mind that I explore is its freedom from the boundaries of macro and micro scales and its power of infinitesimal infinitude. My work is a place for the mind to move without limits, from the work as a whole down through layers of ever more granular complexity.”

This year, I will be exhibiting mixed media artwork that incorporates photographs, papers, monoprinting and textiles. Some of the work will also include poetry written especially for the work. Please stop by and visit, and be sure to leave your comments in my Guest Book.

Thanks so much for supporting Artomatic and Artists everywhere!!

Visual Media Artist, Isaiah Headen samples from life while sticking with his love for street art and Asian culture. Graffiti Pencil is a funky collection of vectorized pieces that focus on emotions and feelings.

stormy neo fame

there are over 2 billion camera phones in use world-wide.
more and more the camera phone has become the always
ready replacement for traditional cameras, displacing
standard photographic equipment such as the ‘polaroid’ and
digital ‘point and shoot’ cameras. despite their ubiquitous
presence camera phone images are rarely printed and even
more rarely exhibited.

this exhibit is a collection of images taken over a year’s time
period aimed at documenting life’s small moments and
elevating them through the use of a miniaturized format. it
captures the life of an average camera phone user. arranged
in rows by month and columns by themes, the 120 images
are a reflection of the artist’s life. celebrations – birthdays,
graduations, a new puppy - and tragedies – a mother’s
funeral, are presented. family, friends and co-workers are
a constant as are flowers and water. the seasons are
jumbled as life alternates between d.c. (city life)
and key west (vibrant flowers); warm and cold;
barren and tropical; political and whimsical into a single
collection. the first april image is the floor at
MoMA, which served as the inspiration for this project.

true to the ‘lo-fi’ nature of camera phone art all images
were taken with a 1.2 mp blackberry ‘pearl’ camera phone
and printed on a polaroid ‘pogo’ mobile printer.

artist: mike mcdermott
michael.mcdermott@gmail.com

Our work captures the beauty of the ordinary - over glanced objects and people.

visual artist work consisting of multimedia such as glass acrylic beads and watercolor. Displayed traditonal canvas, watercolor board and framed prints.