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MemoryScapes 2011

I call my work Doc-u-Art. In each work that I create there is a documentary story that binds the elements of a visual collection. The story may be obvious and clearly tied to a social issue, or it may be more subtle, my reaction to an event or a place that I have witnessed. In this sense, the work is like a clue. The visual elements are the pieces of a story. While I can write down the story or talk to you about the issues, I am also counting on the power of the juxtaposition of story elements to generate a response in the people who look at my work, whether or not they have talked to me, lined up the facts, or researched and analyzed the problem. In this way, each digital composition is a memoryscape. Each combines multiple images, layered in Photoshop, to convey impressions recorded in my mind. In some cases, I include archival material, a touchstone that allows me to bring history into my memory. The first memoryscape that I created was a combination of a photograph of people scuba diving in a fake lagoon in Hawaii and photographs of the lava beds that surround the golf course at the hotel. It is a pretty photograph but it is also mysterious and strange. It is my statement against the artifice of tourism and the fear of authentic experience. In this sense it documents an ecological and social issue through the lens of my memory. I began merging images using silver prints, C-prints and archival glue. I liked the contrast of the silver print to the sleek color images. When Photoshop and digital photography moved to the forefront, the transition was a natural for me. Using a scanner or a digital camera, I have the freedom to meld images without the problems entailed in working with adhesives. I have preserved the contrast of black and white to color by using a printshop that has separate print drivers for the contrasting print modes. I am now experimenting with printing on fabric – a return to the quilted quality that first inspired me to paste images together.