New Totems
New Totems is a series of photomontages made from images of some of my sculptures and architectural models. Those images were placed into my computer where they were isolated from their original backgrounds, manipulated in various ways, in most cases clustered together, and reconstructed back into symmetrical montages. I then added images of my eyes to the symmetrical montages (and in some cases images of my legs and arms) in the appropriate locations that symbolically referred to me as the designer, and at the same time gave symbolic representational life to the symmetrical montages. I referred to traditional Indian totems by stacking the symmetrical montages on top of one another, creating a new composite of images.
I have always been fascinated by the fact that within nearly any image (that has been doubled) one can often find a visual reference to a face, especially if eyes are added to the image. In this case, since I am the designer of the original objects that were photographed to create the photomontages, the addition of images of my eyes seems very appropriate to give symbolic life to these new formations.
In general, my intention here is to create images that have never been seen before, a personal requirement that I continually seek in my ongoing explorations into the making of art. In addition, I hope that these photomontages will inspire the viewers to imagine stories about the origins of these New Totems.
Status: Built
Location: Santa Fe NM
