COLLEEN OTCASEK

My series titled "Heterogeneous" creates a unique visual experience - with each piece diverse in character and content. This body of work lands evocatively between lyrical and California hard-edge abstraction. I begin by collating materials such as found objects, re-purposed photographs, paper, and textiles - then hand manipulating, assembling, and deconstructing each piece to "what is enough" before committing to a photograph. The final result of each rendering highlights the painterly potential in the medium of photography.

 

My passion for investigating the properties of light and shadow originated by watching fashion photographers' use of tungsten (mono lights) in the 80's. From this technique, I'm able to create dramatic shadows that form shapes and images of surface qualifies.