New Body of Work: Trompe-l'oeil

I have a new body of work that I will have a show for in the summer/fall that I wanted to describe in detail  for those of you who like photographic art with social commentary.  The premise of the work is that sometimes we are certain that we are looking at something specific, but our personal biases create filters which shape how we see the world.  Our eyes and brain fool us. In French this is called Trompe-l'oeil , which literally means "deceive the eye."  The exhibit with the same name is also about awareness.  It's not so much about what goes on around us, but our notions about ourselves and who and what we are.

I entertain this idea with props and models who appear to be one thing, but really are something else.  I believe as human beings that we often perceive ourselves as one thing (for example, we often like to think of ourselves as grounded and easy-going), but if we were to ask our closest friends how they see us, their description is often very different than ours.

One of my goals for the exhibit is to encourage people after viewing the scene to try to remove any filters they have and be honest about themselves and who and what they are.  The exhibit is as much about self-discovery as it is about the interaction of the models within the set that I have created.

The following individuals who are experts in their respective fields produced the set:
Jim Ferguson (lighting), David Radcliffe (set design), Shantel Davis (make-up and hair), Alex Remington (photography, production).

I will release a few images in the next month for a small preview of the upcoming show.