Artist's Statement

Brenda Biondo

Various sizes up to 47”x47”

“Atmospheric” encompasses three related series of constructed abstractions focusing on atmospheric light and viewers’ perception of color and space.

The three series are "Paper Skies," "Moving Pictures" and "Modalities." All images in "Paper Skies" and "Moving Pictures" are created by re-photographing a folded and/or cut print of a sky image (grey clouds, blue sky or sunset close-up) in front of actual sky. (There is no post-production manipulation.) In "Paper Skies," the juxtaposition of the print against the actual sky creates an abstract image that emphasizes the ambiguity between the real and the reproduced, and allows the original printed photograph to be seen in a new context as a three-dimensional geometric form. The paper on which the original image is printed transcends its role as simply a substrate for photographic imagery and becomes an active ingredient whose edges, texture and shape play a key role in the final image.

"Moving Pictures" also looks at the photograph as object, but this time as an object in motion interacting with its environment over time and, in the process, literally blurring the line between what is real and what is reproduced. The images are created by quickly moving a folded and/or cut printed sky image while it is being re-photographed outside. The half-second exposure time generates amalgams in which the printed sky and the actual sky are merged, blending colors and shadows and revealing a synthesis that cannot be seen with the naked eye.

In "Modalities", each finished piece is a digital montage composed of out-takes from the hundreds of images shot during the creation of "Paper Skies" and "Moving Pictures," alluding to the vast number of captured images that are "rejected" by photographers in the course of editing. The series draws inspiration from the work of Ray Metzker, Harry Callahan and other photographers who used collage, repetition, and/or unusual patterns to present images, colors and shapes in unexpected compositions.