"Digital (the in and the out)" by Christopher May
Digital (the in and the out)
Christopher May
Media: Mixed media cyanotype with gold leaf, silver leaf, metallic tape, graphite, and resin on panel
Size: 20' x 30"
Price: $825
PROCESS
The Cyanosphere series consists of a variety of mixed media works, all containing a circular cyanotype photogram. The series started when I was attempting to print cyanotypes from digital negatives. I quickly became more enamored with the photograms I was producing on scraps than with the images made from digital negatives. The cyanotypes in this series are printed on lightweight paper and coated with various varnishes to render them translucent, allowing hints of metallic sheen or other materials beneath them to be seen. Many of the ”canvases” in this series are unsatisfactory test prints from those original digital negatives that have simply been painted over and reused.
STATEMENT
The Cyanosphere Series
Long gone are the gentlemen scientists and the expert generalists. The Cyanosphere series harkens back to those days when inventors reigned, seeking to understand the truths of the universe. These images are illustrations of an imaginary science, visual representations of the unseeable. The series shows the incredible range of mysteries in the universe and the beauty one can find while searching for truths. The unknown should not be shunned but sought out. Circles, rife with symbolism, are a personal entry point into the work. The circles, so open to interpretation, set up a dichotomy in the work: while enticing viewers to understand the universe through science by seeking truth, there is no truth in these images. There is nothing empirical here, only subjective. They are, in fact, the opposite of science and truth. They are born from imagination.
BIO
Chris May is a multidisciplinary artist whose work examines multiple facets of how humans exist in and affect nature. Chris’ work also explores the dark consequences of rapid change. Our society develops and embraces new technologies at an ever-increasing pace. As we slide into more and more digital realms, are we paying attention to our physical environments, to our fellow travelers on this blue marble?
But Chris’ art is not all doom and gloom. Chris is a keenly observant photographer who captures the beauty in the minutiae of his surroundings, the overlooked details that most people do not see, even when they are not staring at their phones.
Chris has been enthralled by photography and image making since a high-school teacher gave him a copy of Henry Horenstein’s Black and White Photography and pointed him to the darkroom door. He then worked in various analog and digital photo labs. Chris graduated from Georgia College with a BA in studio art. He then attended Rochester Institute of Technology, where he earned an MFA in Imaging Arts
(Photography).
