DARLENE FOSTER .

ARTIST STATEMENT

The current direction of my work is primarily photography montage (the technique of producing a new composite whole from fragments of photographs). I've always been a collector at heart, so my photography naturally evolved from concentrating on a single composition in the camera as the end product, to capturing images of anything that intrigued me for later use in a montage. Antique and vintage objects that have had previous lives are elements I collect that eventually find their way into my work. It's difficult to predict what will be a starting point for a new piece; a landscape with an unusual tree, a mysterious abandoned building, or the haunting eyes peering from a vintage portrait. Once I have a starting point, I begin to bring components together piece by piece digitally in Photoshop until I'm satisfied with the composition. From there, I experiment with multiple filters, tones, colors and textures until the final piece is as close as possible to the original idea in my mind's eye.