Kimberly Burleigh: Closed Concealments
Artist(s):
Title:
- Closed Concealments
Exhibition:
Creation Year:
- 1999
Medium:
- Quad Tone Black inks and an Epson printer on archival paper
Size:
- 9 inches x 12 inches
Category:
Artist Statement:
This work utilizes sophisticated technology to emulate an early experimental, low-tech photographic procedure – photograms. Forms derived from terrorist equipment are used in place of the everyday objects used in early photograms. This not only creates more evocative images, it also invites a connection between photograms and X-ray surveillance technology.
These photograms are counterfeit. Real photograms are created through a simple photographic process in which solid or translucent objects are placed over light sensitive paper. The paper is then exposed and processed, resulting in images which look like negative silhouettes and shadows. In making these counterfeit photograms I have devised an integration of this early experimental photographic process and computer graphics. My intent is to produce a plausible reality through artificial means. In Strata Studiopro, a 3D modeling computer program, I construct a digital or virtual model that – if it existed – could produce a real photogram. I create 3D objects, assign properties to these objects (e.g., transparency, reflectivity, etc.), arrange these objects over a surface, and cast lights over the whole arrangement. I then isolate the objects’ shadows that fall on the surface and invert the image of this into a negative image using Photoshop. The final image is inkjet printed with Quad Tone Black inks and an Epson printer on archival paper.
