FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING

CYANOTYPES, PHOTOGRAMS, AND ARTEMIS HISTORI

The human figure has been an integral part of my life and artistic inspiration since childhood. Renewed in 1989 through 1998 by the artwork of my late wife, Maria Cusumano, I explored the figure through a variety of media. Three distinct yet related series came to fruition, which I refer to as the Manipulated Photograms, the Cyanotype Nudes, and Artemis Herstori.

From Artemis Herstori Series

MANIPULATED PHOTOGRAMS

As I was exploring the human form by photographing nudes, I discovered I wanted something more intriguing than the singular form, as beautiful and inspiring as it was. So I began utilizing the photogram process to integrate hand-made with camera-made imagery. Using pen, inks and spray paint, I marked on my enlarged black and white prints. Next, I used this manipulated print consolidated as a “plate” from which I made a reversed, negative contact print – the finished work of art. Years later I went back to the series and produced mural-sized digital inkjet  prints, which I name Xochiquetzal. In these larger versions I bring the human form closer to actual life scale.

Focusing

CYANOTYPE NUDES

To create the images in this series I used a 4˝ x 5˝ Sinar view camera with black and white negative film to photograph some of the young men and women in the creative communities of Iowa City. I was striving to fuse the model’s natural beauty with light and texture. I exposed light sensitive cyanotype (blue print) paper to the negatives, balancing the enthusiasm of the sensual qualities in front of the lens with the physics and science of the processes. Working with nude models coincided with my wife’s concurrent explorations into the female form and the influence of being raised in my mother’s studio as she painted nude models.

ARTEMIS HERSTORI

These simple collages juxtapose a single figurative piece atop a second iconic work of art from another genre, to create provocative portraits of universal women. Using Exacto knives and surgical scissors, the images were cut from Christie’s and Sotheby’s art auction catalogues. The imagery was mounted on printmaking paper using archival 3M Positionable Mounting Adhesive. The series was signed Artemis Herstori to honor the goddess in every woman and rewrite male-centric art history. The works were marketed through my wife’s company Goddess Graphics, and sold by the hundreds at a price affordable to everyone. With time I sought far more complex ideas and imagery, leading to one of the major series of my life, Recycled Spirits.