Page 26 -

19
“Iam interested in the psychological themes of memory, emotions, and
imagination. Many of my projects address
these ideas. While my earlier work often fell within the category of still life, in recent years I have embraced the genre of landscape. My approach
to photography is a hybrid one, using both digital and analog processes. I am a process-oriented artist. I enjoy the ‘conversa- tion’ between myself and an image that I am working on, whether I am using hands-on methods or digital ones. I have always felt that evidence of the artist’s hand was an important aspect of an artwork, and that often guides my printmaking choices.”
Tangled Series
“In 2017, I had a heart attack. My doctor told me that it was a significant heart attack and I spent days recovering in the hospital’s cardiac unit. But I didn’t really grasp the seriousness of the event at the time. After a few weeks it dawned on me that it could very well have been a fatal event. I began thinking about the 'what-ifs,' which soon turned to obsessive thoughts about life and death and what it all meant. I had been exploring a new interest in landscape photography before all of this took place. Real- izing that I needed to focus on life in the here and now, I started photographing again at some local sites. I became fascinated with the bare trees covered with gnarled vines. I perceived an anatomical visual quality to them that I wanted to try to explore further. The twists and tangles of the vines and branches seemed analogous to the chaos in my head. They became forms to contemplate, puzzles to solve, maps to decipher, and iconography to translate—a way to process the thoughts on mortality that occupied my mind. Slowing down to closely examine these vines through pho- tographing them, processing the images and finally making the prints, helped me to untangle my thoughts. The gestures of the trees welcomed me into a place in which
I could explore my feelings and resolve issues. These photographs are documents of that process.”
JAnet mAtthews