Decontexturalization: Patina Painting

Patina Paintings are photographic compositions discovered in the distressed metal surfaces of old trucks. The man who collects these trucks and saves them from the junk pile, allows me free access to photograph them. My large-scale compositions of painted, rusted, scratched metal are intended to convey the effect of abstract paintings. They are, indeed, abstract paintings created by man, history, and the weather. I love capturing these compositions with my camera but I am sad that I will never learn all the stories of their marked surfaces. Photographic abstraction occurs when context is avoided, and with it, a new level of appreciation for the basic elements of art.