I am a painter and a photographer. My early paintings were often based on my photographs. So, the two mediums have always been connected for me. I recently began to produce figure paintings with tightly cropped compositions resulting in canvases of people missing various parts of their anatomy— heads, legs, arms. A quick “what if” study photo of myself filling in the missing body parts in these paintings was the “a-ha” moment that led to my Impositions work. These images explore different approaches for imposing paintings within photographic images.
Some of the artistic issues I am exploring include: dimensional perception as viewed in a painting vs a photograph; the demarcations between photography and painting; perceptions of photographic truth; and introducing the artist’s hand and imagination into the world of the literal photograph. What really drives my creative process, however, is the desire to evoke intriguing emotional narratives within beautiful photographs. The work explores humor, play, desire, loneliness, and melancholy. In most cases the titles are an integral part of the communication and have been carefully considered to add meaning without constricting interpretation. Guiding all of this is my desire to make this work accessible to all audiences.
The set staging in Impositions is often self-conciously visible. It is important for the viewer to see the mechanical apparatus that supports the canvas. The goal is to bring a sense of honesty to the finished piece and avoid the realm of digitally manipulated images as well as the over-produced sterility of commercial studio shoots.
Website: www.gregoryscottimages.com