LANDSCAPES

LANDSCAPES

Sep 4–28, 2008

September 4 – September 28, 2008
Gallery 4

Featuring Leslie Raymond

ARTIST STATEMENT:

The moving image is at the core of my work. I both shoot and borrow images, then digitally process them in preparation for live cinema performance, as stand-alone video loops for display (“digital painting”), for projection into/onto installations and specific sites, and as still images for print. Nature, technology, and social systems are prevalent themes in my images, presented with as much attention to the aesthetics of the imagery as possible. The seductive beauty of celluloid film drew me to work with the moving image more than twenty years ago, and in keeping with the technological changes inevitable over time I eventually moved from 8mm and16mm film to digital video. Reconciling the major difference in image quality between the two media has certainly inspired my deep attention to developing the visual characteristics of my imagery. I tread a fertile terrain between the cinema and the art world. I derive influence from all of the genres of film– art house, avant-garde, film noir, Hollywood, kung-fu, new wave, online, underground, and so-on. The histories and practices of both experimental cinema and video art are equally fascinating to me, particularly in their correlation to social, economic, technological, and cultural developments. Especially intriguing is the sub-plot concerning each of their developments within the commercial vs. non-commercial sectors, and the socio-political and economic implications therein. Above all, I am an artist working in contemporary media who is heavily grounded in the processes and dialogue of traditional fine arts practice, while striving continuously to confront the present moment and its implications for the future. I endeavor to amplify positivity– both in my artwork and in my life. – Leslie Rayomnd