Artist Statement
The photographs in my ongoing series Unsoiled are constructed scenes of idealized nature that have varying degrees of illusion and artifice. Original images are taken from familiar sources including Flickr, Wikipedia, television, print media, art posters, and screen-savers, and then reinterpreted through my addition of disposable plastics, houseplants, yard waste, and other found materials. The images and objects that I construct with serve as relics from daily life that recall the ways we try to control nature, or imagine it to be.
The materials that I place into my pictures simultaneously enhance and interrupt the romanticized “natural” settings that I work with. I am actively trying to use artifice as a way to question the authenticity of a common type of nature photography that can be found throughout our image culture. This imagery emphasizes the pretty and panoramic rather than the harsh and hostile aspects of the natural world.
How to use our image viewer
Click on any of the thumbnail images to launch the viewer. You can then navigate forward and backward within the portfolio by clicking the left or right side of the enlarged image. Click the add to collection checkbox to automatically add an image to your collection. Image tags or search engine keywords appear below the collections' checkbox and each word or phrase is a link to potentially more image matches.