Monday, July 30, 2012

Seeing 2012 (#91)

For your consideration:  a tiny slice of the cavernous workshop wherein all stage props are fashioned for the theatre productions put on by my current employer, San José State University.

This miniscule selection from the plethora of chaotic materiel strewn about was taken with a set of extension tubes combined with my 100mm macro, yielding a considerably enlarged view of microcosm I espied on a saw horse, of all things.  It evokes, for me, a sense of Pink Floyd meets Jacques Cousteau far beneath the sea: a creature at once Sonoran (the color and texture recall many cacti from my youth) and Martian, trumpeting loudly a series of notes to be interpreted by those who care about such alien communications.

Hey:  it's late, I've been putting in unfathomable hours preparing for the upcoming exhibit (see sidebar notice!), and I needed a momentary respite from matting and framing.  Thus, this.


Abstract Green Spew (Jealous Heart), #8931-7D

© 2012 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: June 13, 2012; Canon 7D; f/5.6 @ 1/400 sec; –2/3 EV; ISO 800;
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Seeing 2012 (#90)

For your consideration:  a rare entry for this month.

Representative, at that:  for just as this delicate specimen is on the cusp of unfurling for the world a bundle of new creations of beauty, so too am I immersed in bringing forth a collection of new prints for exhibition next month.

This is a massive task, all the more so due to my very late start on the gestation and delivery of physical imagery (as opposed to pixel-based representatives).  Indeed, the project now consumes nearly every free moment, both mentally and physically, as I labor under the leash of a rapidly encroaching deadline — I must be ready to begin the installation a week from Wednesday. 

Even so,  it's a wonderful problem to have: the creative process is as mysterious as it is rewarding, and I hope that the results will be of interest to you, dear viewers.  (See details to the right.)


Embryonic Yellow Petals, #9232-7D

© 2012 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: July 5, 2012; Canon 7D; f/2.8 @ 1/80 sec; – 1 2/3 EV; ISO 800;
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Seeing 2012 (#89)

For your consideration:  a small sample of  the profound, delicate beauty which nature engineers from the simplicity of sun, water, a bit of breeze and a tiny patch of soil.

We large-brained bipeds enjoy characterizing ourselves as possessed of advanced technological skills and inclinations . . . yet it remains beyond our feeble efforts to create such a living demonstration of exquisite artistry from whole cloth.

Go gently, tend to your own garden, and witness the elegant results. One needs not embark on exotic ventures to other locales in search of new wonders:  sweetness beckons at hand, only awaiting the embrace.   

Poppy, #6405-7D

© 2012 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: March 23, 2012; Canon 7D; f/16 @ 1/200 sec; – 1 1/3 EV; ISO 640;
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Seeing 2012 (#88)

For your consideration:  a Kafka-meets-Lynch (with a smattering of Poe) study of triangulating fantasies, yearnings and devolution.

The first posting I've been able to find the mental wherewithal to publish in nearly a month . . . 'tis no coincidence, the absence from this forum.  Thermodynamic Laws in the spiritual realm are just as intractable and dispassionately uncompromising as they present in the material, albeit illusionary, world.

Although the physical juxtapositions made this composition a compelling target for my eye in that initial moment of encounter, it was not until only quite recently that the import of the space pierced my consciousness.  In fact, it required a bit of visual sleuthing before the unraveling helix revealed itself completely, a startling discovery.

Thus we have quite an entourage here.

An undulating, serpentine coil of questionable DNA simultaneously adorns and overpowers a goddess of a decidedly fecund and verdured nature. Showy, arm thrust as if a prize is due, all the while unaware that her essence remains confused by the many layers required to maintain the aura.

Regal, yet removed to the background, struts a guardian scanning the unseen arena for signs of — what? confirmation of the conceit at hand?  dissent deemed uninformed and thus unimportant? Regardless of the stare, such hubris only becomes possible behind the safety of a mask; one dares not (knowingly) adopt such emotional and physical postures in the presence of naked honesty.

Occupying the most elegant stance is a youth emanating what seems to be wisdom beyond his years; yet the distant gaze and decapitated hand states that little in this scene is born of spiritual/emotional clarity; the pomp and circumstance of self-indulgence and daring-for-confrontation utterly misses the bars of self-imprisonment looming behind.  He knows what the others can't see:  the artificial construct of the moment is quite removed from the truth which lives off-stage.

Finally, occupying the foreground is belatedly discovered a bare appearance of purity and its life-sustaining gift of healing, nurturing, and the cycle of birth and rebirth. . . the core essence of Love.  It is no coincidence that this representative of Truth is paradoxically the most easily missed prop.  Close examination brings us the heart of the matter, however: the posterior breast is incomplete, cleaved from being anchored to the body.

Thus, the inescapable conclusion becomes that such are the vital elements of love that it suffers constriction, distortion and becomes a surreal parody when the actors begin donning themselves with substitutes, props and a cacophony of roles, deceits necessary to perpetuate participation of a falsely constructed tableau.

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
You try this trick and spin it, yeah
But your head will collapse and there's nothing in it and you'll ask yourself

Where is my mind?
Where is my mind?
Where is my mind?
Way out in the water
See it swimming 

-- The Pixies © Universal Music Publishing Group


Torso Goddess (Madonna and Child), #0956-7D

© 2012 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details:  July 24, 2011; Canon 7D; f/5 @ 1/250 sec; –1/3 EV; ISO 1000;
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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