I studied Photography at the Visual Arts
Center in Summit, NJ and at the International Center
for Photography
in New York City. Brought up in a working class family,
I am drawn to old abandoned factories where I photograph
the final remains of New Jersey’s industrial history.
My grandmother worked in a bomb factory during World
War II. My grandfather and father were both auto mechanics
who owned a gas station in Newark, where I developed
an obsession with pin up women, cars, and design.
My photographic sculpture series documents one of my
explorations of these abandoned sites where I photographed
the centerfold remnants of pin up women immortalized
by factory workers. I combined these photographs with
found doors from the factory site and nearby junkyards
to create Photographic Sculptures. My intuition, design
instincts, color, and scale all play a role in the
art of matching door to image. Together these create
the sculptural canvas that becomes a cohesive unit—an
assemblage. Recycled doors are transformed into containers
that preserve, frame, and enshrine these women.
I find sanctuaries the moment I enter these abandoned
buildings. They captivate me with their spirit. Architecture
and adventure bring me to these forgotten places where
I document their deterioration. I am an inveterate explorer
of urban decay. The inspiration is in the hunt; spontaneity
and surprises fuel my passion. I keep going outside to
explore what’s going on inside. My work is the
evolution of this organic process influenced by the imagery
of spiritual deities, the industrial landscape of New
Jersey, and the joy of turning the discarded into a gem. |
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