I am a painter and a photographer. My early paintings were often based on my photographs. So, the two mediums have always been connected for me. A number of my figure paintings featured tightly cropped compositions that resulted in canvases of people missing various parts of their anatomy– heads, legs, arms. A quick “what if” study photo of myself filling in the missing body parts in these paintings was the “a-ha” moment that led to my Impositions work. These images explore different approaches for imposing paintings within photographic images.
The set staging in Impositions is often self-consciously visible. It is important for the viewer to see the mechanical apparatus that supports the canvas. The goal is to bring a sense of honesty to the finished piece and avoid the realm of digitally manipulated images as well as the over-produced sterility of commercial studio shoots.