Revealed and Concealed

The Revealed and Concealed series: Mixed media photo-encaustics Each person has their own equation about what they reveal to the world and what they conceal. We are a multilayered species both genetically as well as socially. We peal away layers of ourselves, often to our own amazement, to unearth the dimensions of our own human geography. In our revelations we measure and chart our course through this life, seeking to find methods to understand our own physics. We are dreamers lost in the science of discovery, mapping the contours of flesh and spirit, looking through eyes fixed on an unknown horizon. Unlike the images in some of my earlier series where the layering was created with computer manipulation, the technique in the Revealed and Concealed images is different. Here the layering is achieved through the use of multiple layers of photographs and scanned love letters from 1911 printed on translucent vellum, along with the application of image transfers to create an actual three dimensional depth. The use of wax to bind the work together can be likened to an insect trapped in amber, providing a visual cohesiveness. Within these portraits are contained the ideas of ancient manuscripts, destroyed urban landscapes, remnants of images, alchemical notations as well as Theosophical graffiti. They are the threads that hide as well as uncover the realities of discomfort and beauty.