ThaumaturgY
I call this work Thaumaturgy* because of its magical component that appears when I fuse the Portraits of the spirits that I photograph, often resulting in surprising and magical expressions.
Creative imagination suggests that the memories of actual sights and experiences may so blend in the mind of the writer or artist as to produce something that has never existed before — often a hitherto unperceived vision of reality: to use imagination in portraying character and action.
*MAGIC - In the 16th century, the word thaumaturgy entered the English language meaning miraculous or magical powers. The word was first anglicized and used in the magical sense in John Dee's book Mathematicall Praeface to Euclid's Elements (1570). He mentions an "art mathematical" called "thaumaturgy... which giveth certain order to make strange works, of the sense to be perceived and of men greatly to be wondered at.”
Creative imagination suggests that the memories of actual sights and experiences may so blend in the mind of the writer or artist as to produce something that has never existed before — often a hitherto unperceived vision of reality: to use imagination in portraying character and action.
*MAGIC - In the 16th century, the word thaumaturgy entered the English language meaning miraculous or magical powers. The word was first anglicized and used in the magical sense in John Dee's book Mathematicall Praeface to Euclid's Elements (1570). He mentions an "art mathematical" called "thaumaturgy... which giveth certain order to make strange works, of the sense to be perceived and of men greatly to be wondered at.”
THAUMATURGY
A problem with the term "abstract" as applied to art is that it differs ontologically from what is abstract. For what is abstract is defined as that which exists in thought or as an idea, but not as a physical object. Artworks, on the other hand, usually if not always, have a very physical existence. We are thus forced to change the meaning of "abstract" in order to speak of abstract art to "relating to art that does not attempt to represent external reality, but rather seeks expression using shapes, colors, and textures." So the emphasis in abstract art is that a physical object (hence, not-abstract) denotes something other than physical objects. The case of abstract photography is made even more difficult because those shapes, colors and textures are derived from physical objects, thus forcing the very genre into yet another ad hoc definition; namely, "photography that shows shapes, colors and textures which, in spite of being pictures of actual physical objects, do not denote them."
Thaumaturgy is an exploration of wondrous shapes, colors, textures, transparencies, light, and darkness. It is a series of works that force us to walk in and out of pure abstraction and discernible pieces of visual reality. In a time when all ideologies play out in art, this artist obviously delights in this ambiguity and pursues it in different ways. But, the problem with photography is that —more than with any other medium— the viewer tends to ask, "What is this a picture of?" —meaning, what is its referent?
One subset of Thaumaturgy is titled Fata Morgana. The latter is the name of a kind of mirage that significantly distorts the objects on which they are based, to the point that they become completely unrecognizable. That is the case with the Fata Morgana works. We are presented with waves of color in patterns that sometimes resemble Rorschach stains for their specular symmetry. Darkness alternates with luminous translucent color so that the viewer experiences intermittently the enjoyment of color, and the anxiety of darkness. Although occasionally we "see" a face or an animal shape, as is the case with a Rorschach stain, Fata Morgana liberates us from asking for a referent and delivers us to imagined denotations.
In Thaumaturgy, this artist does not stop at the depiction of the object; rather he squeezes it until it loses its objectivity and flows through his imagination into our subjective interpretations. His interaction with the subject matter is akin to Jackson Pollock's dripping or Paul Jenkins' pouring, except that the colors "flow" into the photographic "take," as theirs do onto the canvas. Just as these painters learned to control the element of randomness in their technique, this artist has learned to control the visual input on his digital camera. He could have just as well used an airbrush, or a camera-less digital medium, but he is a self-styled creator of enigmatic wondrous pictures who happens to use the tool of photography.
Fernando Castro Romero
Spring 2017
A problem with the term "abstract" as applied to art is that it differs ontologically from what is abstract. For what is abstract is defined as that which exists in thought or as an idea, but not as a physical object. Artworks, on the other hand, usually if not always, have a very physical existence. We are thus forced to change the meaning of "abstract" in order to speak of abstract art to "relating to art that does not attempt to represent external reality, but rather seeks expression using shapes, colors, and textures." So the emphasis in abstract art is that a physical object (hence, not-abstract) denotes something other than physical objects. The case of abstract photography is made even more difficult because those shapes, colors and textures are derived from physical objects, thus forcing the very genre into yet another ad hoc definition; namely, "photography that shows shapes, colors and textures which, in spite of being pictures of actual physical objects, do not denote them."
Thaumaturgy is an exploration of wondrous shapes, colors, textures, transparencies, light, and darkness. It is a series of works that force us to walk in and out of pure abstraction and discernible pieces of visual reality. In a time when all ideologies play out in art, this artist obviously delights in this ambiguity and pursues it in different ways. But, the problem with photography is that —more than with any other medium— the viewer tends to ask, "What is this a picture of?" —meaning, what is its referent?
One subset of Thaumaturgy is titled Fata Morgana. The latter is the name of a kind of mirage that significantly distorts the objects on which they are based, to the point that they become completely unrecognizable. That is the case with the Fata Morgana works. We are presented with waves of color in patterns that sometimes resemble Rorschach stains for their specular symmetry. Darkness alternates with luminous translucent color so that the viewer experiences intermittently the enjoyment of color, and the anxiety of darkness. Although occasionally we "see" a face or an animal shape, as is the case with a Rorschach stain, Fata Morgana liberates us from asking for a referent and delivers us to imagined denotations.
In Thaumaturgy, this artist does not stop at the depiction of the object; rather he squeezes it until it loses its objectivity and flows through his imagination into our subjective interpretations. His interaction with the subject matter is akin to Jackson Pollock's dripping or Paul Jenkins' pouring, except that the colors "flow" into the photographic "take," as theirs do onto the canvas. Just as these painters learned to control the element of randomness in their technique, this artist has learned to control the visual input on his digital camera. He could have just as well used an airbrush, or a camera-less digital medium, but he is a self-styled creator of enigmatic wondrous pictures who happens to use the tool of photography.
Fernando Castro Romero
Spring 2017
