Artist Statement
Like many (if not most) artists, my primary goal is to entertain myself first. When others appreciate the images that I create, it takes the experience to another plane entirely. In my latest work, I’ve been focusing on the plants and flowers that decorate my daily life by taking their photographs, and then using those as the basis to create abstract blooms of the imagination. I refine each floral portrait through the filter of “abstract imaginative realism”, seeking to discover the mysteries that lie therein.
The iPhone is my main tool, both to shoot and to manipulate my photographs. By utilizing self-created filters and a variety of apps in combination, I routinely distort the myriad essential aspects of the originals. This dramatizes the textures, contours, patterns, hues, and moods inherent in the flora. I then use the resultant images as individual layers, combining them to create the final piece. The often-painterly results give us an intense and enigmatic experience.
After a long and rich life collaborating in film, music, and especially theater (principally as a sound designer in NYC), I turned to photography, as my primary means of creativity. Not to sound trite, but I have a curious ability to “see” sound, and so, to me at least, my metamorphosis into photography is not so foreign as one might think. My tastes are stimulated by an eclectic spectrum of artists from an array of art forms, eras, and genres whose works never fail to encourage my creativity in this fantastic kaleidoscopic universe. It should also be noted that I’ve always regarded Grandma Moses as a true icon, and now that I’ve passed the age of 70, I feel closer to her than ever.
Summer Clouds 02 | Digital Photography by Brian Hallas. Edition: 1 of 6. This image measures 12"h x 9"w, and is framed. Framed Size: 14 x 11.
Summer Clouds 04 | Digital Photography by Brian Hallas. Edition: 1 of 6. This image measures 12"h x 9"w, and is framed. Framed Size: 14 x 11.